Oars is a material contemplation drawn from three generations of history in Redleaf and Woollahra. Drew Connor Holland’s new series of handmade paper works, created from objects with personal attachments to the area, is an embodiment of our own archaeologies.
Through family archives connected to the many iterations of the Gallery building, Holland transforms WWII news clippings, 40-year-old receipts, love letters, medical documents, diaries, and even hair, pulping them into abstract forms. These works resemble crumbling history paintings, bridging past and present.
Based in Sydney, Holland approaches his art as a contemporary archaeology, exploring love, anxiety, and the transformation of hoarded data. Using screenshots as a base, he corrodes each image through analogue reproduction processes, resulting in pieces that appear as dilapidated remnants of their original states—like a decaying fresco or tapestry. His works embody digital anxieties, serving as speculative fragments of the minutiae that dominate our daily lives.