Donald Fortescue

Donald Fortescue has been an artist in residence in the Furniture Workshop for the month of September. He is a Professor of Art and Design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and an alumnus of the Furniture Workshop at the ANU School of Art.  His work involves the use of contemporary digital technologies in tandem with antiquated technologies and craftsmanship associated with expeditions of discovery from the Enlightenment era to the early 20th Century.  By combining these seemingly disparate technologies, he draws attention to their underlying meanings.

For this exhibition Donald has worked in collaboration with students to create a body of work arising from field research conducted at ANU’s Coastal Campus at Kioloa. Students and staff whittled small sculptures on site from wood sourced in the nearby Spotted Gum forest, then developed a 'translation' inspired by the original whittlings.