Opening 5 – 7pm Friday 6 June
Leading Hand consists of a body of painting and sculptural works investigating the transformative impact of screen technology. The works focus on thresholds and moments where screens and landscapes blur, highlighting the evolving relationship and perceived contrast between physical and digital realities. The exhibition aims to foster a nuanced perspective on our interaction with these technologies in public and private environments.
The works presented in the exhibition merge screen and landscape. The three-dimensional pieces physically manifest a haptic dimension to technology and investigate the spaces where screen technologies extend beyond their physical forms—where light radiates, data interfaces operate, and networks exist. Through themes of congestion and inundation, the works depict the fragmentation of contemporary urban environments in the 21st century—both online and offline—and question the experience of contemporary urban life.
Mediums such as plaster, concrete, pigments, and mixed media (including digital technologies like television screens) will be used in the creation of these works through techniques of assemblage and casting.
Bio
Rhys Cousins is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne.
Blending a formal education in landscape architecture with works across sculpture, installation, and digital screens. Cousins’ practice is an investigation into the contemporary urban experience through the changing nature of landscape.
His practice provokes thought about the impact of technology on our everyday lives and the haptic possibilities of an increasingly digital existence. He has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including the prestigious Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2024, the Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2023 and Footscray Art Prize 2023, and was Winner of the 2022 emerging artist award at FortyFive Downstairs for his work Pixel, a textural reimagining of screen technologies. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Australia.