Published in Broadsheet
Michelle Hamer’s large, hand-stitched tapestries of urban signs set out to explore the currency of the suburban dream in the wake of the GFC.
Mundane and often unremarkable, urban signs point to the ‘nothing’ moments in our existence – the dead ends, wrong turns and roadblocks that go by unnoticed. But signage can also serve as cultural artifact, embodying conflicting values and speaking to our collective desires. It is the ability of signs to serve as physical and cultural markers that underpins the work of artist Michelle Hamer and forms the basis of her 10th solo show, Dangling Carrots, opening at Craft Victoria on tomorrow night (Thursday April 28).
Hamer sets out to explore the currency of the suburban dream in the wake of the global financial crisis through large-scale tapestries of urban signs. Her work is concerned with the edge of suburban sprawl and how the signs found at this border negotiate the tension between suburban ideals and contemporary realities. By rendering these signs as tapestry, Hamer turns signage into hand-stitched object and highlights the way signs work as a projection of our own narratives. A time-lapse installation by Cat Wilson will feature alongside the tapestries for the first time.
Dangling Carrots will open at Craft Victoria tomorrow night by architect and Triple R broadcaster Stuart Harrison and runs until the June 11.