Michael Kempson

Becoming a grandfather means you think about the planet our young will inherit. Pacific playtime (2018) and Domino Theory (2017) are prints using forms of fauna that correspond to the conventions of consumable fluffy playthings that represent nation states, it coalesces ideas referencing the global challenges precipitated by shifts in the world economy from west to east. It acknowledges the difficult issues facing Australia. While my current etchings, Lake Mungo/Huashan Composition 1 (2018) and Lake Mungo/Huashan Composition 4 (2018) are a conceptual departure, there is a consistent thematic thread with the previous approach that, in this instance seeks to connect rather than contrast. I spent time exploring Lake Mungo in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage region, a site famous for the evidence that rewrote our understanding of human history. Later in Xi'an, China, I began thinking of the old country at Lake Mungo, but it was the intersections between these places and the significance they held for each culture that intrigued. The making of these etchings sync with another aligned interest – the nurturing of trees using the aesthetic and horticultural conventions of Bonsai. My work has been collected by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; plus many Australian State and Regional Galleries.