Sally Rees and Matt Warren Feb 2010

Of Heaven and Earth
Sally Rees and Matt Warren

Of Heaven and Earth is a collection of works, solo and collaborative, by Hobart artists Sally Rees and Matt Warren, produced or begun whilst on residency in Montreal, Canada in 2008.

Stranded in Montreal for a month after original art-making plans fell through, and feeling like aliens in a strange, but beautiful city in the dead of winter, the pair were inspired to make these works.

The resulting videos, soundworks and installations are both a portrait of the the city and an antidote to the alienation and homesickness sometimes felt whilst there. They portray a desire for an imagined sanctuary, created using the materials available at the time. Comforting snippets of ‘home’(the Australian night sky, the beloved pet rabbits left behind) conspire with signifiers of ‘the other place’ (captive exotica, endless snow, a foreign electrical hum) to speak of the isolation of the alien and the toll of the willing exchange of comfort for adventure.

The original incarnation of the exhibition featured only two installation works, Rees' Snowglobe and Warren's The Lull and was shown in the tiny artspace in the Auberge Alternative in Old Montreal (an alternative hostel/accommodation where the the pair were given refuge), founded and run by Tasmanian native Angela Reeve, whom the pair gratefully acknowledge.

This extended version of the exhibition features re-worked versions of both Snowglobe and The Lull and also includes a collaborative piece The Great Escape that was begun in Montreal in 2008 and completed in Hobart recently. With these works now being shown in their hometown, the artists consider this exhibition to be the closing of a challenging but pivotal chapter.Of Heaven and Earth
Sally Rees and Matt Warren

Of Heaven and Earth is a collection of works, solo and collaborative, by Hobart artists Sally Rees and Matt Warren, produced or begun whilst on residency in Montreal, Canada in 2008.

Stranded in Montreal for a month after original art-making plans fell through, and feeling like aliens in a strange, but beautiful city in the dead of winter, the pair were inspired to make these works.

The resulting videos, soundworks and installations are both a portrait of the the city and an antidote to the alienation and homesickness sometimes felt whilst there. They portray a desire for an imagined sanctuary, created using the materials available at the time. Comforting snippets of ‘home’(the Australian night sky, the beloved pet rabbits left behind) conspire with signifiers of ‘the other place’ (captive exotica, endless snow, a foreign electrical hum) to speak of the isolation of the alien and the toll of the willing exchange of comfort for adventure.

The original incarnation of the exhibition featured only two installation works, Rees' Snowglobe and Warren's The Lull and was shown in the tiny artspace in the Auberge Alternative in Old Montreal (an alternative hostel/accommodation where the the pair were given refuge), founded and run by Tasmanian native Angela Reeve, whom the pair gratefully acknowledge.

This extended version of the exhibition features re-worked versions of both Snowglobe and The Lull and also includes a collaborative piece The Great Escape that was begun in Montreal in 2008 and completed in Hobart recently. With these works now being shown in their hometown, the artists consider this exhibition to be the closing of a challenging but pivotal chapter.