
Shared Ruin
, 2016Installation View
In Shared ruin Unkovich and Tsoulis-Reay explore intersecting themes through their individual practices and collaborate to form a cohesive interior space.
Unkovich works with materials traditionally associated with the building trade, such as gypsum board, plaster and paint, from which she constructs installations of sculptural objects. In contrast, Tsoulis-Reay creates modest oil paintings featuring imagery from found photographs which convey a sense of nostalgia.
For Sutton Projects, Greece is used as the starting point. The works evolve from a series of associations, referencing classical ruins, island holidays, white peach and stone and the archetypal blue colour scheme. Greece symbolizes a place of origin, and a locus of separation. Both artists are of Mediterranean descent and spent their formative years in the ocean-infused landscape of New Zealand. There is a certain memory or longing inherent in their work.
Shared Ruin proposes the idea of ‘place’ as a series of approximations and shared experience. The project is the culmination of the longstanding friendship of Unkovich and Tsoulis-Reay and the process of communication, negotiation and collaboration between two artists.
Amy Unkovich completed a Bachelor of Fine Art her Masters at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University in 2013. Recent exhibitions include Parlour Games, Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland, 2016; Realizing Stuff, Glovebox, Auckland, 2016; A Revolution has to Start Somewhere, Hamilton, 2016; Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity, Man Friday, Christchurch, 2015; Three’s Company, w/Ophelia King & Nina Lloyd, Rockies, Auckland, 2015; New Beginnings are in the Offing, Fuzzy Vibes, Auckland, 2014; Terrace Setting w/Yolunda Hickman, Rm, Auckland, 2014; Façade Charm w/Amber Wilson, Window, Auckland, 2014; and Primitive Tints w/Jennifer Mason, Projectspace, Auckland, 2012.
Kristina Tsoulis-Reay completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) at RMIT University, Melbourne in 2009 and her Master of Fine Arts at Monash University in 2014. She has held recent solo exhibitions at Caves; St Heliers St Gallery; Light Projects; Gertrude Contemporary; Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts and West Space. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Federation University, Gippsland; Lowrise Projects, Melbourne; Monash Faculty Gallery, Melbourne; Utopian Slumps, Melbourne; Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; TCB Art Inc, Melbourne; Joint Hassles, Melbourne; Platform Gallery, Melbourne; One Minutes Foundation, The Netherlands; Block Gallery, Sydney; and Seventh Gallery, Melbourne.