Billie Baker, Liminal #3, 2022. 35mm film print soaked in toxic liquid, printed on recycled canvas, 100 x 68cm. $1,060. Courtesy: the artist
LUKE POTKIN
Fair Director, The Other Art Fair, Australia
The process of Baker’s work, using toxic ocean water to develop photos of the natural environment in a vulnerable state, tells a rich story. The brown stained layer and acidic greens effectively disrupt the pristine colours beneath, a perfect metaphor for human disruption to the beautiful planet we live on. Whatever was there before is lost. The title of the work, Liminal #3, raises the notion of transition. The end state of our natural environment is not yet determined.
BENJAMIN CLAY
Gallery Manager, Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Billie Baker’s thoughtful practice weaves traditional modes of analogue photography, painting and drawing with utterly digital aesthetics. The result? Works that deny limiting characterisation in the pursuit of new ways to visualise her local coastline (Bundjalung country). Liminal #3 is a deeply compelling example of this, enlisting 35mm film and water from polluted nearby streams to image the plight of our sick oceans. As beautiful as it is troubling, this sizeable work encourages meaningful contemplation.