Zach Edwards

RMIT University Library Art Prize.

Joseph Beuys Cafe Drawing Award for excellence in expanded approach to drawing.

Currently, in my practice, I have been creating replicative soft sculptures of real-world, mundane objects, as a way of exploring how a space can re-contextualise and change anything within it. Teetering between fine and street art realms, the sculptures evolve uniquely within both, bringing up themes of hierarchy, values of spaces, and what can be considered as art. The other aspect of my sculptures is the unseen, how they symbolise the things in life that go unnoticed and overlooked. These mundane objects are hardly considered in their real-world environments and yet have a large significance in contributing to cultures and their aesthetics. Re-envisioned as an art piece within a gallery space, the objects now encourage viewers to see the unseen, to look at the mundane, and to have a deeper consideration.

Central to this project is the construction of a one-to-one scale bus stop in my soft sculpture style. It encapsulates all the aspects mentioned above but expands upon the themes of the unseen. This structure represents freedom and choice for me; my early childhood years were challenging, and I found that all the systems in place that were designed to protect me, never actually took what I wanted into consideration. I felt unseen, overlooked, and ignored. I was just another mundane thing to them and was never given a second thought. Pleading for what I wanted did nothing. It wasn’t until I was able to catch the bus home from school that I made my own choice, my own action. This is what My Lawyer the Bus Stop represents for me.

instagram: @trashcaz