The work: Dylan Bolger, Duality, 2021. Routed Redgum timber, 3 panels, approx 110 x 250cm each. Courtesy: the artist
Balancing a profession in architecture with an artistic practice, Dylan Bolger often seeks to enmesh his works within their built environment, creating site-specific pieces that bring together building and Country. An excellent example of this approach is his work Duality, where the Maiawali-Karuwali-Pitta Pitta-Gomeroi artist used three massive pieces of Redgum timber to respond to a space within the Oodgeroo Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, in consultation with the Elder-in-Residence Uncle Cheg. His choice of medium was informed by the preponderance of these spectacular native trees in this area, giving a second life to the salvaged trunk of a fallen Redgum. Bolger has worked a personalised story directly into the timber, carefully retaining the whorls and grain of the wood among his flowing imagery, resulting in dual narrative from both the artist and his medium. One section of the work hangs on a wall perpendicular to the others, letting the piece physically turn a corner and exist in two spaces at once. This sense of divergence speaks to the experience of the artist and the greater Aboriginal community, where there is often an overwhelming sense of being in two worlds and disparate spaces.