Infiltration 2009 | Stream 2009 | Inner Circle 2014 | Luminous 2013 | Forgotten Flowers 2011 | Sanctuary, Darkroom 2013 | Sanctuary

The work featured below is the result of a collaboration between Kenji and Mel Robson for Domestic Renewal, a collaborative project involving 16 individuals, drawn from a range of creative disciplines including visual art, studio craft, independent design practice and architecture, who were invited to make objects for a table setting. Kenji and Mel shared studio spaces in Brisbane for a number of years before she moved to Alice Springs permanently in 2011. For this project, the pair developed the concept together over Skype, sending work in progress between Brisbane and Alice Springs, to finalise the pieces. 

"In developing their work for this project, the artists were encouraged to consider a range of possibilities and issues such as using existing materials or objects, the idea of place, urban renewal, wide scale rapid change and active stewardship of our artificial landscape amongst many other factors. The table was a device to frame action and served to establish a common location, a general scale, cultural norms and object archetypes to negotiate. This was a strategic approach to provide a space and setting to imagine, incubate and test new work. In fact it served as something like a little version of the real world, a lab to craft ideas in response to real world challenges and opportunities. This project has produced work that suggests answers to complex problem sets such as the overuse of materials, resources and energy in our lives against a backdrop of globalisation and expanding circles of consumption. The works reflect upon the need for more socially cohesive, culturally and spiritually nurturing places."

Rohan Nicol, Exhibition Curator, Domestic Renewal