(angel, soldier)
Drew Connor Holland, text by Jonno Revanche
An Angel is a promise of selfhood from a person that can not possibly exist. I want to elaborate. To think of an Angel is to think of an impossible, necessary body, manipulating our faith of the divine into something earthly and tangible, if fleeting. An Angel asks only for our complete optimism. An angel acts on a worldly assumption - are our peers as selfless, caring, indentured to service as we might think we are? For once, obligation (tradition?) is a saving grace. An angel reaches across the void and gifts us an unexpected dash of serotonin (bröther, may I have some more?) It may seem fanatical to put such trust in others given the possibility that things can go awry, but we attempt a little insanity anyway. Decant that shit into vials for best results. Can heavenly trysts and familiars take the place of everything pedestrian?
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Drew Connor Holland is a Sydney-based artist who focuses on the potential for tactile objects to act as social archives. Holland’s current practice involves collating, or pulping, sentimental physical objects with screenshotted virtual ephemera together to create crumbling works on paper. Each work is intentionally rendered as fragile. The digital archives on the surface embody the process behind the material support: virtual minutiae in synthesis with personal detritus. Instead of slick and new the pieces look battered and old — like a crumbling fresco or tapestry. The finished pieces are delicate. In this state they force a gentle hand and ask for care.
Holland graduated with an MFA from the National Art School in 2018 and has exhibited nationally: selected spaces include Alaska Projects, Galerie Pompom, Metro Arts, Sister Gallery, Tributary Projects and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Works are held in the Maitland Regional Art Gallery collection and in private collections throughout Australia.
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We acknowledge we are on stolen land and pay our respects to the Traditional Owners, the Ngunnawal, Ngambri, and Ngunawal peoples and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.
