In his solo exhibition SLIDINGS, artist Jamie North uses the dark history of The Lock-Up as a back drop for the narrative of a tragic accident involving North’s great grandfather at Lysaght’s steel works in 1932. This family history is fused with Newcastle’s industrial heritage, reflected in the materiality of the artwork produced for this exhibition: raw steel and the waste products of it’s manufacture – slag and scale.

There is a pervasive sense of a world at tipping point, or perhaps past the point of return in North’s work. His installations are an exploration of the tension that exists between humans and nature and the inescapable cycles of corrosion, decomposition and renewal.

SLIDINGS will see a series of newly commissioned works that are informed by The Lock-Up’s spaces and an associated residency through The Lock-Up’s artist in residence program.

ABOUT JAMIE NORTH

Jamie North’s primary sculptural medium of concrete, with its aggregates of steel slag and coal ash relate strongly to this lineage. His childhood was spent wandering the bush and beaches of Lake Macquarie, contrasted with regular visits to his Grandmother’s home in Mayfield (Newcastle) which was dominated by the nearby BHP Steelworks. These formative counterpoints are very much evident in the artist’s practice.

Recent solo exhibitions of Jamie North’s work include Rock Melt, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015); Terraforms, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney (2014); and inner outer, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney (2013). Another highlight is North’s participation in The Future is Already Here – It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed, 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016).

IMAGE: Jamie North Rock Melt 2015 Cement, expanded recycled glass, blast furnace slag, steel, organic matter and various Australian plants Heights variable; base dimensions 56 x 56cm Exhibited in the Federation Courtyard of the National Gallery of Victoria (International) Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery