The Spacious Palaces of Memor

The Spacious Palaces of Memory

In this work memory becomes the raw material for construction of imagination.

Memories of childhood. Of family. Of his homeland Australia. Of three years living in Suzhou – a cradle of Chinese civilization. Of a trip to Greece – a cradle of western civilization.

These memories are combined with an array of archival images. Seemingly unrelated subjects appear side by side in drawings and paintings with an ambiguous sense of time and space.

External or extended memory is a vital part of the creative process too. Many of the works include images retrieved from forgotten smartphone photos, notepads and sketchbooks.

Bilby employs a calligraphy grid traditionally used to write and memorise Chinese characters. It functions not only as a compositional device, but a symbol for memory in all its random, intricate and fragmented forms.

In exploring connections between these various aspects of memory – including diverse personal and collective narratives – the artist is convinced that what unites us across cultures far outweighs whatever divides us.