Kay Orchison studied visual art at Meadowbank TAFE (Dip. F.A. 1993) and Sydney College of the Arts (B.V.A. 1996, Honours 1999). His praxis is located in the fringes of photography, using such techniques as direct object scanning, medium format toy cameras, Polaroid SX-70 and dye-based digital printing on uncoated cold-pressed etching papers.
He resists captioning, exploring the photographic in a liminal space where the image is left unidentified and mute or connected obliquely to an entire body of writing rather than directly to a reassuring label. He employs abandoned things and places such as found images, small scraps of detritus and the oneiric landscapes of industry and agriculture.
Much of his work has been on handmade covers for limited edition publications of Australian poetry. In 1999 he won the Siglo Prize with Michael Brennan for their collaboration on Locuting Love.
Current body of work: Somewhere Else, Someplace Good
With this new body of work Orchison steps back from the camera and re-engages with the critical concerns of memory, cataloguing and captioning, pushes dangerous buttons regarding ownership and authorship, speculates on amnesia, acknowledges the influence of Jacky Redgate, explores a hundred years of popular photography, and further closes the loop between demotic and fine art images.
Artist's statement and slideshow
Somewhere Else, Someplace Good was opened by Kate Fagan on 7 June 2007 at Blender Gallery, 16 Elizabeth St, Paddington. The exhibition ended on 21 June 2007.
Previous show: Atopia