James Pasakos
Buoys And Westgate
Monotype, Print. 29.7 x 42cm
Artist Statement
Buoys and Westgate, reflects scenes of the Melbourne Docklands. It holds many experiences of my childhood, culture, home, and the formation of me, as artist. The work is part of an ongoing personal journey to endeavor to understand belonging and identity, to form my own connection between the two worlds of my Australian and Greek heritage. I often visit the Melbourne Docklands to collect my thoughts and to view the maritime landscape, to seek my own iconography, narrative, purpose and understanding of sense of place. The Docklands is an historical area with much significance to the Australian contemporary landscape, which came into prominence during the Victorian Gold rush of the 1850s as a very busy Melbourne shipping hub.
Part of an ongoing series portraying the Docklands, is to continue the narrative of travel and discovery. During my overseas travels I often consider the valuable migrant stories of travel. My work reflects these powerful experiences as they act as reminders of the fragility of our sense of self in the world, and the way in which that sense of identity may develop and spawn new cultural identities that change or shape values of other cultural frameworks.