Elizabeth M. Cole – RMIT School of Art Graduates

Close up view of hands holding Atlas (wall mounted display book) open — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. Detail image Atlas. 2025.

Rendered Other and Cast Out: Staging a multi-disciplinary cautionary tale about global warming and Antarctica (2025)

My project warns of our uncertain future due to human-caused global warming. Staged as a multi-disciplinary cautionary tale, it consists of a three act installation comprised of handmade and cast sculptural objects, light, shadow, sound and video. By reworking Antarctic archival materials to question the allure of the unseen and the unheard, the project calls for an embodied response, one that may open up possibilities for change.

The project speculatively and performatively explores anthropocentric cause and effect through the lens of Antarctica, investigating how to prompt a constructive, hope filled response to human-caused climate change. Inspired by chance encounters with shadows and whale ear bones, the three stages — Rendered Blank, Rendered Silent and Rendered Corporeal — are supported by two elements Interlude (a suspended work) and Atlas (a wall-mounted display).

Rendered Blank is a screen, shadow and video based work reflecting colonial-era exploration of uncharted lands. Rendered Silent features 3D printed and plaster cast whale ear bones based on specimens held by Museum Victoria. Rendered Corporeal consists of fragmentary casts — suggesting a hybrid reptilian-human head — modelled on a swimming cap. Interlude is a felt and aluminium sculpture suspended at head height, with an embedded soundscape designed to elicit curiosity. Atlas is an idiosyncratic contextual guide to the project, containing archival and personal images and works, layered through transparent pages.

View of installation, consisting of Rendered Corporeal, Interlude, Rendered Blank and Rendered Silent. — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Rendered Corporeal, Interlude, Rendered Blank and Rendered Silent. 2025.

View of two people looking at Rendered Blank work (free standing projection screens and shadows, video projection and skeletal shapes). — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Rendered Blank. 2025.

View of: 1)three stands with acrylic display cases containing 3D printed shapes, 2) mound of plaster cast whale ear bones and 3) four shapes of reptilian-hybrid human heads on the floor, 4)an end view of felt hanging on an aluminium tube and 5)a display book on the rear wall. Works from Rendered Silent, Rendered Corporeal, Interlude and Atlas. — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Interlude, Rendered Corporeal, Atlas and Rendered Silent. 2025.

View of: 1)three stands with acrylic display cases containing 3D printed shapes, 2) mound of plaster cast whale ear bones and 3) one free standing projection screen with skeletal shapes casting shadows. Works from Rendered Blank and Rendered Silent. — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Rendered Silent (mound of ear bones and printed bones in cases on stands) and Rendered Blank. 2025.

Side close up view of a 3D printed version of a whale ear bone with a catalogue label as a tag. The bone is housed in an acrylic display case. Part of Rendered Silent. — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of 3D printed whale ear bone as part of Rendered Silent. 2025.

Person crouched down handling plaster whale ear bone casts. Part of Rendered Silent. — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of mound of plaster casts of whale ear bones as part of Rendered Silent. 2025.

View of three strips of thick felt hanging on a aluminium tube suspended from the ceiling (part of Interlude). — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Interlude. felt, aluminium tube and embedded sound system. 2025.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Interlude. Felt, aluminium tube, paper and embedded speakers. 2025

View of three reptilian-hybrid human heads on the floor (part of Rendered Corporeal) — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of reptilian/human hybrid head like casts as part of Rendered Corporeal. 2025.

Person holding open pages of the display book, viewing the wall mounted work Atlas. A small skeletal shape is on the floor in the right hand corner (from Rendered Blank). — Photograph by Astrid Mulder. Rendered Other and Cast Out, 2025. View of Atlas and small sculpture adrift from Rendered Blank. 2025.

Artist statement:

I am a multi-disciplinary visual artist. My process-led feminist practice is based on challenging inequitable power structures, overcoming vulnerability and celebrating resilience. I experiment with archival materials to disrupt patriarchal norms and expectations, through techniques such as incongruous placement of artefacts and inverted presentation of stereotypical images. Through casting, painting, print making and sculpture, as well as video, light and sound, I create immersive installations of shadows, precariously positioned, tactile objects and disorientating video and sound projection.

I have extended my practice to respond to the existential threat of human-caused climate change. I draw on my affinity for the sea and Antarctica to create work that promotes empathy for the natural environment, thereby disrupting complacency about global warming and promoting the need for change.

Artist biography:

I completed a Master of Fine Art qualification at RMIT University in 2025. I also have a Graduate Certificate of Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts (2018), a Diploma of Visual Art from RMIT University (2013), and a Graduate Certificate of Arts and Entertainment Management from Deakin University (2007).

My work is informed by engagement with the natural world, and underpinned by an exploration of library and museum archives — drawing on my time working for Museum Victoria (2008 to 2013). Learnings from my participation in the inaugural Australian Posthuman Summer Laboratory (RMIT University 2024) permeate my practice.

I have held one joint exhibition of paintings, and exhibited in over 20 group shows. Most recently my photographic work was included in the Mirrored Worlds exhibition, shown in Macau, China (October 2024) and at the Museum of Chinese Australian History, Melbourne (May 2025). In March 2026 I will be part of a print exchange (Irrepressible) curated by Rona Green, showing at the Whitehorse Artspace (Victoria).

https://www.elizabethmcole.com

Instagram: Elizabethm.cole

Elizabeth M. Cole