Esther Stewart’s recent paintings and sculptures use geometric designs that, while deriving from modernist abstraction, reference the ornamental trappings of architecture and domestic interiors.
A colourful, three-dimensional diorama, Stewart’s ‘How to Decorate a Dump’ explores the aesthetics and ethos of DIY home improvements through decorative vocabularies and the nostalgic fixation of olden-day styles from the 1970s and 1980s. Stewart’s interest in retro DIY manuals stems from her fascination with what she calls ‘the utopian idea of domesticity’, the desire to create a personalised haven, even when resources are limited and reality falls short of our dreams.
Heide Museum of Modern Art
4 June to 11 September, 2016
Melbourne
Grand Gesture, 2016, acrylic on board, 181 x 261cm framed
© The artist. Photograph: Ashley Barber
Courtesy the artist, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney and Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
