Lee Salomone: Fragments; a widening vision

Past Exhibition
1 June - 10 August 2024
Close up of bronze cast xanthorrhoea grass tree spear. The tree spear sits on a wooden table. The sunlight highlights the detail.
Close up of bronze cast xanthorrhoea grass tree spear. The tree spear sits on a wooden table. The sunlight highlights the detail.

Fragments; a widening vision, poetically weaves together form and image interlacing memory with personal and ancestral histories.

When

1 June to 10 August 2024

Access

Speaking to the pathways of experience altered by immigration and assimilation, Lee Salomone’s exhibition is grounded in intergenerational learning, an acknowledgment of First Nations country, and deepening our understanding of settler colonial experience. Fragments; a widening vision is the first major institutional exhibition by Lee Salomone in over a decade. 

Envisaged as an expansive metaphorical garden, fostered and cared for by elders, family, and educators Fragments; a widening vision proposes a site for growth. Through a process of bronze casting and a recalibration of found objects and natural materials, Salomone embeds allegory and narrative into his sculptures. By sowing new seeds of connectivity between migrant histories and the enduring cultural practices sustained by First Nations peoples, Salomone’s 2024 Porter Street Commission is an example of allyship and nurturing story-telling.

Fragments; a widening vision interrelates Salomone’s own familial connections to gardening and caring for Country, documenting his ongoing journey of self-education and consultation with Kaurna Elders and community. Rooted in the gallery space, Fragments; a widening vision is a passage for both story and memory, fostering growth and understanding between people and homelands.

Access the plain language document.
Access the audio recording.

Feature Image: Lee Salomone's studio (2024). Photography by Peter Fong.

This video has been made possible with support from the Government of South Australia through the Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Arts program.  

Artist

Lee Salomone

Curator

Rayleen Forester
  • Installation view of Lee's work in the gallery. Artworks are scattered across the floor.
  • Lee knees on one knee looking at one of his artworks on the gallery floor.
  • Lee sits on a church pew smiling to camera. 5 artworks - brass cast xanthorrhoea's on wooden table legs are visible.
  • Installation view of Lee's work in the gallery. Artworks are scattered across the floor.
  • Installation view of Lee's work in the gallery. Artworks are scattered across the floor. One person is kneeling down looking at a particular artwork on the gallery floor.
Installation view of Lee's work in the gallery. Artworks are scattered across the floor.

Support

Lee Salomone is the 2024 recipient of the Porter Street Commission – ACE’s annual award supporting new artwork commissions by South Australian artists.

ACE is supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and by the Government of South Australia through the Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Presented as part of the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival.

ACE tampinthi, ngadlu Kaurna yartangka panpapanpalyarninthi (inparrinthi). Kaurna miyurna yaitya mathanya Wama Tarntanyaku. Parnaku yailtya, parnaku tapa purruna, parnaku yarta ngadlu tampnthi. Yalaka Kaurna miyurna itu yailtya, tapa purruna, yarta kuma puru martinthi, puru warri-apinthi, puru tangka martulayinthi.

ACE respectfully acknowledges the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and pays respect to Elders past and present. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today.