WONA BAE (South Korean) and CHARLIE LAWLER (Australian) are a collaborative duo, known internationally for their installations and sculptures that navigate the visceral and symbiotic connections between people and nature. Their installations are often site-specific and create a dialogue with the surrounding architecture or space, deconstructing and distorting familiar natural forms and presenting new landscapes to be explored.
Bae and Lawler present the natural world as active and central in an era of polarisation, inequality, inaction, and apathy. Their work combines installation, sculpture, sound, two-dimensional artworks, and photographs documenting ephemeral interventions.
I was introduced to Wona and Charlie through a good friend, Bernadette Alibrando, who consults for the Heide Museum of Modern Art and had included their work in a recent exhibition. Sometimes, I see a show and immediately want to see where the artist works– this stems from a combination of knowing that the space will be visually layered, as well as having a connection to the work. When I stepped into the studio, I immediately felt that there was nothing accidental in there . The shapes and forms that this brilliant duo creates are ideas being played out– I felt very inspired to see their process.
