Station 3

He Remembers We are Dust (detail)
Oil on linen
122 x 91 x 4 cm
Image courtesy of the artist

This work explores the concept of a fall as a single moment in a larger narrative.

It is framed as a moment in time that contains within it echoes of previous falls and foreshadows those yet to come. There is a rhythmic quality to the act of falling and rising that speaks to our own human experience.

The work also examines this specific fall, the first fall of Jesus, as a metaphysical act which represents the human struggle and failure to grasp the divine. The figure takes on an allegorical quality which elevates it beyond a mere man falling down and becomes a simulacrum of falls throughout time.

To stumble is to be off balance, to be shamefully vulnerable. Falling creates a sense of spatial displacement, which calls to an acute awareness of our deepest inadequacy. In this fall we see a divine being experiencing this very human indignity, a moment which is simultaneously base and profound. 

The inclusion of a time slider implies an external viewer with the capability to move backward and forward through this narrative and comprehend it as a whole story.

Biography

Joni Sercombe is a Perth based artist who works mainly in figurative painting and portraiture, though her work sometimes blurs the boundaries into abstraction, textile and sculptural elements. She began her art studies at Chelsea College of the Arts in London and in 2012 she completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Visual Arts) at Edith Cowan University, where she was presented with the Artsource Industry Award.

She has since been selected for several group shows and recently held her first solo exhibition, Not Going Anywhere at Spectrum Project Space.