About Michelle Moore

Artist statement

In Australian contemporary art practice flameworked glass is a primarily unrecognised and unexplored technique. It is an ideal technique for replicating the colours, translucencies and intricate forms of natural specimens in a material imbued with connotations of preciousness and fragility.

My Honours research the past year revealed that flameworking has not been used since the late 18th century to form accurate models of natural specimens for scientific use. Attempting to re-place this torch-sculpting technique, I examined various historical and contemporary contributors to the field of the field of collecting for this work. As a result this series of work explores how museological presentation can arouse consideration for the future prospects of the natural specimen.

The growing representations of natural forms in this series sit somewhere between the displays found in art galleries and those in museums. These works do not directly answer questions posed about the future of the museum and its inclusion of natural specimens. Instead they seek to subtly bring about viewer consideration for these issues based on fragility, transparency and monochromatic qualities of the forms. The presentation of these representations speaks of the collection and classification, both random and regimented, of the past and the future, fragility and memory.

Artist's CV (RTF file)