Tracey Clement, ‘Target: Vines’ (detail), 2008-9, paper, pins, foam core board, 530 x 610mm.

The target is an almost irresistible graphic image. All those concentric rings create a mesmerising visual vortex, drawing the eye dead centre, sucking you in. No wonder the target is a perennial favourite of both pop artists and marketing gurus. The target is also an iconic symbol of man-made violence.

Tracey Clement, ‘Target: Ratus Ratus’ (detail), 2008-9, paper, pins, foam core board, approx 1200 x 650mm.

The targets in Paper Trail are part of my ongoing project which explores the toxic legacy of the Enlightenment: the dangerous notion that it is both possible and desirable to dominate nature.

Using a razor blade, outlines of vines and vermin are ‘drawn’ onto ready-made targets, then allowed to spiral out. Breaching the picture plane and occupying 3D space, these organic forms embody nature’s vitality and patient omnipotence.

Tracey Clement
2008

Paper Trail was first shown as a solo exhibition in 2008, at Peloton, Sydney. In 2009, several of the works were showcased in the emerging artists exhibition, Off the Wall, Art Melbourne, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne. They were exhibited in 2009 in Tracey Clement: Recent(Hard)Work, Elements Art Gallery, Perth, WA.

Photos: Richard Glover.