The series 'Mary Kathleen, NW Qld' has been produced in protest to the environmental devastation near the town of Mary Kathleen (my namesake) situated in northwest Queensland. The town became a ghost town after open-cut uranium mining ceased nearby in 1982. Remediation of the mine site is still underway 40 years later and a large pool of blue radioactive water, an open pit and waste rock stockpiles remain with significant health, safety and environmental risks.
My work utilises the four process colours of cyan – a colour match to the glowing radioactive pool remaining, magenta – a protest colour as per the ‘pussy hat protests’, yellow – the colour of uranium (yellowcake) and black – mourning the loss of the town. These colours resonate with my personal experience as a graphic designer because they are used in the printing process. They have been spraypainted with gloss paint on one side and the surface suggests an automotive-style finish. The sheets of aluminium have been manipulated, crushed and folded to enable a view of both sides of the sheet in the manner of a collaboration with the material.
