My dad told me the other day they used to call him ‘the Mayor of Duncraig Road’. He doesn’t have any vestments. Just a crumpled outdoorsy sunhat, khaki greens, and in recent years, a set of lurid electric blue arm covers that protect his thinning skin from the sun. When I say ‘they’, I refer to the clients whose lawns, gardens and pathways he has carefully maintained for some 25 years. My dad is a gardener.
In Suburban Turrets, artist Emma Buswell considers class conflict among the leafy lawns and estates of suburban Applecross. The area hosts some of the most extravagant homes in the country and is the workplace of many – like her dad, a gardener –who carefully tend these private palaces, shielding owners from the labour oft heir upkeep and the reality beyond their gates. Through her signature knitted jumper artworks and a new series of stained glass works from locally-collected broken glass, Emma reflects on the history of real estate in the Goolugatup Heathcote area, the legacy of ‘land improvement’, and the effects of systematic inequality.
Emma’s exhibition is presented as part of TILT, an annual site-responsive exhibition commission presented by the City of Melville and Goolugatup Heathcote.
Emma Buswell is a prolific WA-based contemporary artist, recently featured in major exhibitions at AGWA, PICA, and DAADA. Emma’s celebrated project charting the politics of the pandemic made her one of the most visible artists in the state, and in 2022 she won the prestigious Joondalup Invitational Art Prize. As a curator, Emma plays an important part in local art culture, she has founded and led artist-run galleries, curated successful exhibitions, and works at Fremantle Art Centre.
