This series marks a study of geography, belief systems and the natural flows of nature. The significance of the phrase ‘as above, so below’ is that it is one that indigenous cultures live by: a belief that the heavens and the earth are the foundation of all creatures, including themselves. Land and sky are more than just geographical icons; they are mirrors in which they see themselves reflected.

The images document the vast desert landscape of Southern Australia – a traditional home of indigenous peoples – from directly above and below a single standing point, brought together as a double exposure. Odette England combines what otherwise exists separately, to explore the significance of primal ‘middle ground’ where humankind resides.

The series was made during an Artist Research Residency: England was appointed as a Visiting Fellow by the University of New South Wales, to live and work at the Arid Zone Research Station of the Imaging the Land Research Institute (ILIRI) from May-June 2009. ILIRI is Australia’s only research institute concerned with artistic interpretation of the science of land.

Bio
Odette England's work deals with meditations on identity and time, as well as the themes of personal and historical memory. She explores how we perceive memory and how little we understand about its intimate relationship to location, mood and geographical limits.

England is a BA and MA graduate of the University of South Australia. Her photographs have been shown in Europe, the USA and Australia including recent solo exhibitions at Durham Art Gallery, Three White Walls Gallery, Birmingham, and The Space, Brighton, UK.

She is a two time UK winner of the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Emerging Photographers competition (2009 and 2010), and has achieved wins and honorary mentions in the 2009 and 2010 Px3 De La Photographie Paris competition, the 2009 London International Creative Competition and the 2009 International Photography Awards.

England is represented in the US (east coast) by KLOMPCHING GALLERY in New York.

This year England will commence her MFA Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI.

For more information, please contact Odette England at: photographer@odetteengland.com or visit www.odetteengland.com