This new body of work sees Beard expand his creative repertoire to incorporate blown glass and bronze into his visual language, highlighting the urges underpinning the accumulation and display of South-East Asian artefacts in cultural institutions. Thai objects from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales are central to this examination into the broader drives and legacy of Western collections. The provenance of these pieces can be traced to exhibitions held at the David Jones Art Gallery - a now defunct operation of the well known department store’s Elizabeth St location in Sydney, which is notable for displaying some of the first exhibitions of Thai art in Australia. Several collections of state and national institutions around Australia contain Thai artefacts whose provenance can be traced back directly to this high-end retail context.
Ratana ruminates on desire as a motivating, seductive force binding these commercial and museological spaces. Through its glossy surfaces and material transformations, cultural property and its complex relationship to ownership and representation is interpreted through Beard’s critically poised and agile archival explorations.
This project has been supported by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
Observe master mould-maker Joshua Rowell as he expertly constructs moulds around the 3D prints, and watch Ruth carefully blow into the handcrafted moulds:
