Lure is the latest collaborative body of work by Seren Wagstaff and Joseph Botica. The exhibition speaks from shared experiences growing up in coastal towns in regional Queensland, with particular reference to memories surrounding fishing.
Fishing, a staple community activity in both Wagstaff and Botica’s hometowns, could be considered a practice of “bogan spirituality”. The sheer potentiality of casting a line into the vast depths of the ocean is something that is often described as “more than just a sport”. In an attempt to maintain connection to both their regional communities and their contemporary urban queer communities, the artists explore ways in which fishing could bridge wide cultural rifts, allowing unlikely connections.
Through sculpture, image, performance and video installation, the exhibition showcases and experiments with the outcomes of public facing performances through a queer regional perspective.
In this body of work, Wagstaff and Botica investigate how different social groups exhibit culture and their associated artefacts. Lure uses regional aesthetics and infrastructure to draw strong comparisons between self-care and pleasure-based activities seen in both queer communities and remote areas of South East Queensland.
