PHOTOGRAPH: HUMES ENGINEERING WORKS DERELECT BUILDINGS MIRIAM STANNAGE COLLECTION

Donor Miriam Stannage, an artist lived in Subiaco for nearly 40 years.

Donor's Artist statement

I lived for nearly 40 years in Subiaco and still have family connections here. The empty derelict Hume Engineering building photos in Jolimont (c 1992) evoke the past and the passage of time. This theme recurs often in the various subjects I explore and different media I use.

I have travelled extensivley in W.A. in my campervan fascinated by the history and evidence of human presence in the landscape, as well as exploring the wonderful unique world of nature in our state. Aboriginal sites, mining ghost towns and pastoral areas have stimulated my imagination.

I also use suburban imagery such as house demolitions and construction sites, salvage yards and the ubiquitous signage everywhere, as well as the beautiful parks and gardens.

Often I arrange worlds or objcets (natural or man-made) in the landscape to give another level of meaning or visual interpretation.

The cycle of past and present, life and death, Is often a remonder of the transience of life, but this perhaps sombre mood iis often lightened by wit and homour. I hope my work reveals a positive a positive, sometimes joyful and perhaps spiritual dimension of human experience.