BACK IN THE TRAP


‘Back in the Trap 1 -18’, 2022, oil, acrylic, pencil, graphite and painters tape on paper. Series of 18, 40 x 57 cm ea, total dimensions, 230 x 170 cm.
In this work I use repeated imagery and grungy torn up surfaces to depict the physical and emotional toll it takes being trapped in repetitive destructive behavior, continually snagged into darkness, only to scramble your way out and be trapped again.

Each drawing includes layering, repetitive strokes, DIY printmaking techniques and frottage – a method of image production that involves creating a rubbing of a textured surface using graphite.

Inspired in part by Brett Whiteley’s baboon used to depict his struggles with addiction in Art, life and the other thing (1978), the screaming ‘hanging out’ monkey is now expressed as a hungry, tearful and desperate Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant that catches and digests its prey with teeth like blades.  

KELLY DOLEY


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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which I practice and work on.