For every creative project I start I take myself on a road trip, a trip down memory lane, which allows me to capture the idea or theme that I want to represent in the work. By going back to places from my childhood, my intention is to capture an image or a video that speaks to a feeling or emotion that I want to frame for that particular project. For Behind Closed Doors I chose to share the road trip experience with participants (as passengers) and for the road trip to be the focus of the artwork itself.
IMAGES OF SOME OF THE CAR TRIPS BELOW
THRID CAR TRIP; 2021
FIRST CAR TRIP COHORT; 2021.
1ST CAR TRIP; AUGUST 2021
SAM CREYTON, 2021. IMAGE DESCRIPTION: PROFILE SHOT OF PERSON TAKING PHOTO IN BLACK AND WHITE
REBECCA ROSS, 2021; IMAGE DESCRIPTION: PONYTAILED PERSON TAKING PHOTO OF LONG STRETCH OF ROAD.
KIMBERLY STOKES, 2021; LOOKING OVER THE FIELDS OF MOUNT BARNEY IN BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY.
I’ve always seen the natural landscape as an inherently queer space. It is the unknown, the forever changing weather and temperaments. The way lines, curves and shapes of natural formations feel and move over time. I wanted to share that with my community and that is where I started my dialogue with the people who have participated in Behind Closed Doors.
Hamish Sawyer, Previous Artistic Director of OUTERSPACE, IMA (Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane) writes
A week or so before the opening, I witnessed Jordan bring domestic items, including
an armchair and a side table, into the hut. The next day, two men parked a four-wheel
drive on the footpath and delivered a wooden dining table. Not knowing
Wilkinson personally, it wasn’t until Rebecca Ross, an artist, creative producer, and
mutual friend, arrived that the opportunity arose to introduce myself.
I describe these connections and context in detail because it’s relevant to
understanding how Wilkinson works as an artist. Rather than a conceptual or
medium specific approach, Wilkinson prioritises autobiography and narrative to
convey his own lived experience as a queer person growing up in regional Australia
(on and around Yugambeh and Bundjalung country). In particular, he is interested in
the idea of the landscape as an inherently queer space:
“It is the unknown, the forever changing weather and temperaments. The way lines,
curves and shapes of natural formations feel and move over time.”
