Boundaries of Habitation

(2022 - 2023)

This work seeks to gently unpick assumptions about reality by exploring the tenuous state of mankind’s disturbance of the natural order in the anthropocene; It sits in a place between benign and malign, beautiful and grotesque, dissolving the borders between fantasy and reality. 

The geological and botanical lexicons spawn otherworldly forms, inviting the viewer into a world where all is not as it seems. By imbuing the quirky forms with an energy that speaks to the essence of fecundity, the subject matter acts as a vehicle for talking about growth, movement and change in the natural world. Even though the work pays homage to the traditions of the still life, it seeks to escape the confines of stillness and rather seeks to capture and convey a sense of vital energy…..an unstill life.

The notion of perpetual but almost imperceptible growth is communicated through a vocabulary of mark making that is both atmospheric and figurative, culminating in a meta language that embodies an intuitive approach to painting.

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Palmer. M, The Boundaries of Habitation, 

Honours Exegesis 2022, RMIT