The following works were part of my Masters of Fine Art By Research degree: Landscape and Desire: A studio project exploring Place, Identity and Cultural Locations.
Landscape can be seen as a construct of human perception, and in that context it forms part of our personal and cultural identity which has been so affected by colonialism, globalisation, history and the passing of time.
I began exploring these ideas by looking into my own cultural history – the landscapes and historic events that form part of a wider European story- and digitally ‘weaving’ images of them into my own photographs of the Australian landscape.
© Erica Tandori 2011
Digital work on paper
H 25 inches x W 34 inches
On a beach washed by an unceasing tide, they dance to the rhythm of an endless song.
The image of two young dancers in national costume was captured during a visit to the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Here, people celebrate the culture, food and history of the land left behind. It is always beautiful to see such celebrations, and to think about all the nations of the world and the beauty and diversity of many cultures, all of which need to be celebrated and cherished. However, such thoughts are tinged with sadness, as languages, cultures and heritage are lost with the passing of the years. In this digital work, I wanted to tie human desire and love with something just as enduring – the endless, restless waves along a timeless shore.
© Erica Tandori 2011
Digital work on paper
H 21 inches x W 16 inches
Sir, we left your boots behind to remind us that only time and landscape endure.
In 1956 the Hungarian people rose up against the Soviet occupation of their country, in what became known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. A massive statue of Joseph Stalin that stood in Budapest was torn down in the protests and destroyed. His bronze boots ( all that is left of the statue) remain in a park dedicated to the relics of the Soviet era, on the outskirts of the city. In this image, I exiled Stalin’s boots to a lonely rocky outcrop on a southern Victorian beach; perhaps they can serve as a timely reminder that nothing, not even the most brutal of oppressive regimes, will withstand the forces of landscape and time.
© Erica Tandori 2010
Digital work on paper
H 22 inches x W 29 inches
Shrouded in mist, the pillar of a graceful old bridge, decimated after the bombing, stands among the limestone formations of the southern coastline.
The Chain Bridge in Budapest, Szécheny Lánchid, was designed by William Tierney Clark and opened in 1849, as one of the largest bridges in the world, uniting both Buda and Pest on either side of the Danube River. The image of the bridge in this digital work is reconstructed from an original photograph now in the public domain, taken on February 3, 1946, following its destruction during the Siege of Budapest. It now stands among the limestone formations of the Twelve Apostles on Victoria’s southern coastline, lost in both the sea mist and the passage of time.
© Erica Tandori 2010
Digital work on paper
H 16 inches x W 21 inches
Sheep graze in a paddock, beside an abandoned car and a ruined castle, as the last rays of sun fall over the countryside.
The ruins of an Hungarian Castle were reconfigured into a photograph I took while visiting a friend near Beaufort, Victoria. It was such a quintessential Australian afternoon in the countryside – grazing sheep, golden grass, a warm breeze and an old abandoned car – who would have thought I would stumble upon an old medieval castle in the paddock?