Mikala Dwyer. Square Cloud Compound, 2010.
Enter the realm of Mikala Dwyer. ​A world where dark histories conjure the spirit world and solace is found in childhood memories.
Two artworks fill the lower gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art. A Spell For A Corner (2015) is a wall painting consisting of multi-coloured geometric shapes that occupies a corner setting. The scale is imposing. The shape of the artwork resembles a winged creature and is animated by its installation across adjacent wall planes. The creature’s wings reach floor-to-ceiling of the gallery’s soaring walls as it commands the room. The artwork is comprised of a web of triangles that references pagan symbolism, and the viewer is drawn into the red, yonic void at its centre. The moth-like creature seems to at once omit energy and capture it, like a reciprocal dream catcher.
The artwork was a gift to the MCA by the artist, perhaps for the primary purpose of being displayed alongside the museum’s recent acquisition of Dwyer’s installation Square Cloud Compound (2010), as it is difficult to imagine these two works in isolation. In this context, the two artworks exist as creature and habitat. The bird, moth, bat or phoenix rising in the corner is custodian of the hallowed grounds it faces.
Square Cloud Compound is constructed of large squares of coloured fabric that form a canopy housing a network of billowy tunnels and caves. The artwork’s title is an oxymoron of sorts that hints at the contractions in Dwyer’s work. Symbols and structures lining the perimeter of the installation warn of danger and imprisonment, however solace may be found within.
The outskirts of Square Cloud Compound is a collage of sculptural elements that represent various aspects of Dwyer’s broader practice. Dwyer’s gathering of totemic lamp stands, Lamps (2010-2) have been appropriated here, forming the ambit of the sacred environs: the threshold one must pass to enter.
In an interview with Robert Leonard, Dwyer states that ‘Lamps weaves together hope and despair, protection and punishment. There are rectilinear lamp stands, which suggest totems and gallows—they could protect you, they could kill you.’ In Square Cloud Compound we see these opposing forces at play once again.
Influenced by Dwyer’s six month residency on Cockatoo Island, the lamp stands make reference to Australia’s penal history. Perched on masts are small hollow boxes that resemble Ned Kelly’s helmet: a ubiquitous symbol of outlaw freedom. Some are gallows painted in prison stripes. Other lamp stands are totems that speak of the occult. They are adorned with small delicate objects, once discarded, now reincarnated as an offering for safe passage. Suspended from the poles are contravening mechanisms: lights as beacons to guide the way, mirrors used to disorientate.
The lamp stands are painted in the black, white and red palette of constructivism. Dwyer’s work is evidently influenced by constructivism’s focus on materiality. It also reflects the educational philosophy of constructivism, whereby learning is acquired through experience. The experiential nature of Square Cloud Compound transcends its sculptural elements. Its cubby-house architecture and enormous scale evokes memories of childhood. Within the structure the viewer is enveloped by soft, coloured fabric of various textures and opacity. It is safe, feminine. Beyond the external threat of danger and imprisonment, the internal cubby house is a sanctuary that dissolves inhibitions and excites the imagination.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Mikala Dwyer: MCA Collection
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks
21 December 2015 – 21 February 2016
