ESSAY: HIPKINS, Gavin; Melbourne (Rope) (from The Homely series 1997-20...
Gavin Hipkins's 'The Homely' series (Acc nos 2008.043.001 - 2008.043.080) features 80 images taken over four years of excursions, in New Zealand and Australia. The absence of people in these photographs, and the prevalence of the quotidian, punctuated by majestic vistas (which are often replicas) such as the lonely hawk looking down an awe-inspiring valley (Acc. no. 2008.043.044), all contribute to a deep questioning of the choice of images and their meaning. For whom do these images represent home? The multi-narrative series offers an uncanny and un-sequenced personal and public narrative, which draws on notions of the familiar to complicate ideas of nation and identification.
