CRAIG WADDELL

Gone to Ground

14 - 29 August 2004

Kenthurst Gallery

39 Kenthurst Road Kenthurst

PRESS RELEASE

You may think that man's best friend is his dog until you view Gone to Ground, the latest exhibition of paintings by Craig Waddell. The traditional adage of mateship on the land is amusingly distorted by Waddell's infatuation with the clanks and grinds of heavy farm machinery, in particular the tractor, emphasising an integral relationship between man and machine and the subtle sexuality that drives this fascination. No longer inanimate, each tractor has been manipulated to personify a particular character (or emotion) collectively forming a rural hall of fame which can be attributed to Waddell's own farming background.

Waddell's tractors convey a range of characteristics, perhaps with the intention of exposing the inconsistencies of life on the land those within our closet relationships and within ourselves. The unfailing strength and unfathomable loyalty of the fatherly figure, whose vibrancy comes to life in Down and Dirty, Kenny's Dam balances the menace evident in Mad Max, a deranged war machine fervently struggling to conquer the desolate, unrelenting environment which encapsulates him.

Gone to Ground can be viewed as more than a nostalgic tribute to agricultural practice because Waddell's underlying intention seems to be a juxtaposition of masculine sexuality with a fascination for the overwhelming power represented by the faithful tractor.

Tathra Witherow 2004

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