About the artist
Jamie North is a Sydney-based artist working across the mediums of sculpture and photography. North's practice intersects the natural and the human-made. He was brought up in the industrial city of Newcastle in New South Wales, and when he was young, North spent lots of time at Caves Beach, observing natural systems. North's family has a generational connection to steelworks. These two background facts are right at the core of his sculptural works.
About the artwork
Ringform No. 1 and No. 2 are 'living' sculptures, which represent the artist's deep interest in the intersection of the natural world and the artificial. The architectural rings have first been embedded with materials that the artist has sourced from industrial sites and then softened by the cultivation and integration of Australian native plants, which continue to grow and evolve
Over time, seeking out natural growth lines and explore the landscape of the work. Over time, the plants will become entangled with the inorganic concrete, creating a continuously evolving and living sculptural form. Within this dichotomy, the work simultaneously invokes ideas of progress and collapse, industry and ruin, melancholy and triumph. Jamie North has purposefully situated the sculptures in Prahran Square as a false ruin. Drawing inspiration from archaeological sites, they are a nod to the fragility and, at times, strength and tenacity of plant ecosystems within our increasingly urbanised landscapes. The sculptures are miniature ecosystems, new worlds built from the detritus of the old.
How manmade is manmade?
People often comment that the almost seamless quality of the sculptures almost look like they are found objects that have been repurposed by the artist, perhaps sourced from a demolition site.