ROX DE LUCA:
Still gleaning for plastic, on the beach
Rox De Luca’s exhibition is open at Articulate from Friday 14 – Sunday 30 August. Open Saturday – Sunday, 22/23 August and 29/20 August 11am – 4pm (and other times by arrangement with the artist).
‘On Bondi Beach, my local beach for a time it seemed that beachgoers couldn’t maintain the new normal of ‘social distancing’. So the Council closed the beach. It is open now.
Given that closure of Bondi Beach, I went for solo walks to Rose Bay Beach where I could discreetly continue to glean for plastic on the beach. That is my everyday work practice.
At times I combine coastal plastics I find in my daily walks with pristine single-use industrial plastics I source from other places. Sometimes I use these bits on their own. The initial gathering and sorting process of my work is slow.
Combining the plastic bits is intuitive and playful.
This is usually followed by a threading of the plastic components onto strings of wire. The resulting sculptural garlands and mounds I make are reflections of my coastal home and its relation to the greater human landscape of waste and consumption.’
Rox De Luca is a visual artist based in Sydney, Australia. Her current work, made from plastic remnants gleaned from local beaches and other sources, draws attention to the serious global issue of waste that our species generates. De Luca exhibits regularly in solo and group exhibitions, and has been a finalist in the Fishers Ghost, Ravenswood Woman’s Art Prize and Deakin Small Sculpture Prizes. She has completed projects with Sculpture by the Sea, was recently awarded a Fremantle Art Centre Residency and this year will work on a range of collaborative projects. www.roxdeluca.com