Northcote Leader 12 March 2012

MAKE SPACE FOR ARTIST KATIE LEE

WHAT happens when you take seemingly ordinary objects we encounter every day in public spaces, such as scaffolding and road barriers, out of their normal environment?

Artist Katie Lee believes we have a unique, psychological and emotive reaction to these forms when placed outside their typical context.

In her installation practice, Lee takes these everyday objects we see in urban spaces and places them in an art space, where they take on a whole new meaning.
‘‘We live among all these forms, like manholes, grilles, barred windows and hanging wires, and it’s an evocative language,’’ Lee said.

‘‘When it’s translated into an architectural space it can seem quite strange, so it’s about the poetics of space and the impacts these things have on us psychologically.

‘‘It can be quite poetic or quite sinister.’’

Lee says her work is halfway between a critique and a ‘‘decoding’’ of these forms outside their context.

Lee is presenting a new installation at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art’s NEW series. For this exhibition, Lee has gone outside her usual practice and worked with a dancer on a video installation to accompany her work.

Lee is one of six artists, including Victoria’s Charlie Sofo, chosen to exhibit in New12, which specifically fosters the work of young contemporary artists.

Curated by Jeff Khan, codirector of the Sydney Performance Space, the works traverse the disciplines of visual arts, performance and dance.

‘‘He (Khan) has chosen artists all different from one another and there is a performance-based theme which runs throughout the exhibition,’’ Lee said. ‘‘Whether it be a performative aspect or through absence of it, in all the works it’s about the way we navigate space as a performance.’’

New12 will run from Saturday, March 17 to Sunday, May 20 at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Southbank. Free.
Details: accaonline.org.au