Charlie Lawler and Wona Bae of Melbourne-based Loose Leaf Studio are known for their concept-driven installations. Including contributions to the groundbreaking Empire immersive exhibition from artist Rone earlier this year, their practice explores the overlap of nature with the built environment, asking viewers to confront their own relationship with the natural world.
The duo’s immersive installation projects have grown out of various locations in different forms across Melbourne over the past year – sprouting from the Collingwood Arts Precinct’s wooden floorboards at last year’s Flowering Now exhibition; cascading between columns and archways in The Establishment Studios; erupting from the site of an abandoned petrol station, and creeping down the walls of a studio space in Brunswick East. Now, Charlie and Wona are making their first public museum presentation in the iconic modernist building Heide II – En Route is a site-specific installation at the Heide Museum of Modern Art.
‘We present the natural world as the protagonist with an active voice and central role’, Charlie explains of the installation. ‘With En Route we invite visitors to imagine a time when these familiar yet foreign natural forms gradually engulf the building at Heide II, rolling down hallways and over walls.’
Photographer Sean Fennessy is an ongoing collaborative partner for Charlie and Wona, capturing images of these ephemeral artworks and preserving them far beyond their natural life cycle. Sean’s photographic works will accompany the installation, documenting interventions made by the artists over several months both within and outside the Heide II building, and wider surrounds.
In addition to the botanical installation, Charlie and Wona will be giving an artist talk on Saturday, November 9th alongside Heide’s artistic director Lesley Harding. Later this month, their Collingwood studio will be open to the public for a ticketed studio visit, where the artists will delve further into their art practice and processes. Visit the Heide website for more information!
En Route: Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler
November 9th, 2019– February 2nd, 2020
Heide II at Heide Museum of Modern Art
7 Templestowe Road
Bulleen, Victoria
