CULBERT, Bill; East Coast North Island
As with his colour photographs, Bill Culbert's gelatin silver photographs are pre-occupied with the effects of natural and artificial light in combination with the sculptural object. The work East Coast North Island and the cibachrome photograph Sunset III (Acc. no. 2002.153) approach the junction between natural and artificial light in a quietly sombre manner. Both works, created in 1992, capture the dichotomy between electrical energy and energy created in the landscape. Other works by Culbert in the Queensland Art Gallery's Collection, including Jug, windowpane (Acc. no. 2002.198), Small glass pouring light (Acc. no. 2002.196), and Table leg (Acc. no. 2002.197), are constructed tableaux that manipulate the stability of the still-life setting by capturing shadows as concrete 'objects'. Each of Culbert's black and white photographs document a scene which he has repeated many times over, forming part of a largely conceptual project the artist has pursued since the late 1960s.