Stephen Harrison's Installation at Weeweera Sculpture Walk,
Lake George - March 2010

Kangaroo Men

'Many myths and legends have been told of the Ancient Race of the Kangaroo men : this is one of them...' -unknown

Local Canberra artist Stephen Harrison is collaborating with filmmaker Luhsan Tan, cinematographer Joe Laffertty (www.josephlafferty.com < http://josephlafferty.com/ > , screenwriter Joabie Bodere, and actor/musician  Peter Hayes to bring his sculptures to life-- in an animated short film . Check out Harrison's website of paintings, drawings and sculpture here: harrison.mogkat.com
< http://harrison.mogkat.com/ >
and go to youtube and type in 'kangaroo men' to see the actual sculptures.

This recent artwork of Harrison's is based on a visit to Uluru and surrounding area's where he met an Aboriginal man who had been initiated into most aspects of tribal lore, including having been given his spirit or totem animal-the Red Kangaroo. Lessons of compassion, brotherhood and respect are all wound up in this man's complex spiritual life. Harrison finds the intimate, almost casual association between the physical and the metaphysical fascinating- and has produced a number of sculptures depicting the Kangaroo Men. These are free-standing works with dramatic visual power, and a sizable dose of humour!

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"Blue thylacine, other drawings and the decayed city sculptures" is the title to the new exhibition @ the Megalo gallery in watson.The first cab off the rank for megalo in 2007, this exhibition features drawings spanning at least 10 years. these works on paper are multi thematic in that they portray many ideas and are informative of harrison's painting work, but also are individual works that exist as seperate, discrete pictures.In bold contrast, the sculptures exhibited have a physicality of size and presence.They tell of cities gone mad, invaded and rotting, of aboriginal spirits and totem animals, and of dark houses with cathedrals embedded in their skulls.
It's a pleasure!