The Cutaway
Flotilla, 2022
bamboo, water containers, PET bottles, twine, bicycle wheel frames, ribbons, other found objects
Courtesy the artist
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Mirvac and Parramatta Artists’ Studios.
At the Cutaway, Filipino artist Leeroy New presents a flotilla of boats made from recycled plastic. Floating above viewers, they speak to the nature of the Philippines as a country made up of many islands, in which water has a central place in everyday life. These fantastical forms could refer to the main type of transportation employed by people throughout the region for thousands of years, or they could reference Spanish arrival and colonisation from across the seas in the sixteenth century. In recent history, the waters and oceans around the Philippines provided the backdrop for conflicts during the Second World War. As such, these boats speak to the contested nature of our oceans, waterways and the political nature of water in our lives, while for New, plastic as a material is symbolic of Filipino adaptability to change.
Information & Cultural Exchange
Balete, 2022
bamboo, water containers, PET bottles, twine, bicycle wheel frames, ribbons, other found objects
Courtesy the artist
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Mirvac and Parramatta Artists’ Studios.
Leeroy New creates fantastical, large-scale installations that refer to otherworldly creatures and alien structures. Calling attention to social issues through his art, New prefers to present his work in public space, away from the spatial limitations and Eurocentric history of art galleries. For rīvus, the artist has created a site-specific sculpture that wraps around the outside of the A.C.E building. The complex form of the piece is inspired by the organic root structure of the Balete tree of Southeast Asia.
The work is made from recycled materials which are transformed through New’s artmaking process. The artist is inspired by those living in poverty in the Philippines, whose ingenuity and resourcefulness in turning leftover materials into decorative objects is a part of the Filipino sensibility and culture.
Fantasy plays a large part in determining the form of New’s constructions as a means of exploring the possibility of Indigenous Filipino identities. These stories and cultural practices have been buried under years of Spanish Colonialism and American Nationalism.
