Compass broken
Compass Broken, 2021
Cast Blackwood Crystal Glass, Marble, Steel, Light
44 x 56 x 43 cm
Compass Broken is an exploration of identity and displacement. Based off the ancient Chinese Daoist compass: the luo pan, it shows the symbols of each of the mythical guardian beasts that rule over a direction. The Tortoise of the North, The Tiger of the East, The Phoenix of the South and The Dragon of the West. The reason the compass is considered broken is because it has lost its original context. The Phoenix represents the south because in China the Equator, which represents fire is towards the south of China. However, in its current context (Australia) in the southern hemisphere it no longer works. It's a physical representation of third culture kids (those who are born in Australia from immigrant parents of different cultures) who try to reach out to the culture of their ancestors yet finding themselves gaining only superficial understanding connection as they're removed from the original context. It draws parallels to objects in the British Museum, which have similarly been removed from their original context losing their original significance.
