Trevor Tagliabue’s stylised work’s from his collection ‘Exploration 21‘ are wooden carvings are made from prunings of trees from the Wimmera in western Victoria. Their creation has minimal environmental impact and employs simple, hand-tooled assembly and natural finishing techniques. The works themselves are not a copy of any animal or celestial event rather represent a broad, non-specific array of ideas.
He works from observation to finished piece in a very short time. The colouring process uses non-chemical solutions to mimic nature’s natural patination. Once completed, these works are displayed in a series of sculptural grids and their uniform arrangement helps emphasise their fragility and provides a curious narrative for the viewer.
I photographed all the work on a light table with studio flash. The carvings were placed on an elevated 6mm sheet of glass so that each “floated” above the table. Each piece has its own unique character. These are small objects, most are only a few centimetres in size. Working in collaboration with the artist during the shoot we discussed what elements were best emphasised in the photographs. All were shot with an 85mm shift lens to allow me to increase the depth of focus without sacrificing the organic look that natural optical fall-off gives.