Artists included in this exhibition – Simone Slee, Susan Jacobs and Ross Manning – co-produced their work with the material components of drawing, sculpture, and sound art, allowing artistic control over the final outcome to be balanced with chance, accident, and collaboration: the gravitational force of volcanic rocks, the will of a snake, and the sonic potential of consumer detritus from the urban world. By establishing parameters for the unexpected to occur and embracing the performative nature of materials, these artists animate the drama of our tumultuous ecological present: a time when matter means more than ever before.

Simone Slee, Rocks holding up #4, 2019, red scoria rock and glass. Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2019. Photograph: Christo Crocker. Courtesy the artist, Sarah Scout Presents, Naarm/Melbourne and UQ Art Museum, Queensland
UQ Art Museum
16 July to 14 December 2024
Queensland