SPOTLIGHT ON FUEL DOORS : Shane Dodd & Desmond Woodforde: Artworks from the bungalow

Today’s Spotlight brings you a collection of sculptures by artist Shane Dodd on found fuels doors, thru his series Pitulu Wai? (Any fuel?). These found objects are discarded across great areas of Australia’s interior and Shane finds and transforms them into distinctive contemporary artworks. The sculptures speak about what is found in contemporary Country and how that relates to the realities of a life lived in these remote communities. The stories of Mimili’s living culture grow as new life is given to these discarded industrial objects while also commenting on men’s place in Country and culture. Working with the character and shape of the existing metal, Shane makes marks on the fuel doors thru sandblasting or painting Tjukurrpa (dreaming) directly on them. Each door is a one-of-a-kind work that connects everyday materials with contemporary and ancestral Mimili art practice.

These fuel door works were created as part of a men's art workshop held on Country where Men came together to share time, ideas, and develop creative processes. It is within this collaborative environment that Desmond Woodforde has also been developing an experimental printmaking practice. His prints are made as part of these workshops, exploring the possibilities of the medium while drawing on the same spirit of exchange and making that underpins Shane's fuel door works. Together, these artworks offer an insight into the evolving creative practices emerging from the Aṉangu, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara men’s art practice, connection to culture and country.