Sweet Enough looks at sugar from a feminist perspective, examining the complex history, uses and roles of the medium, while celebrating the artists layered relationship with the sweet stuff.
Growing up in suburban Brisbane, oppressive gender roles and the invasive cane toad were omnipresent in the artist's adolescence. The cane toad, introduced to control cane beetle in Queensland’s sugar cane farms, subsequently devastated native animal populations, and continues to spread throughout Australia. The exhibition explores the cultural complexity of this ubiquitous substance and its farming impacts, dissecting the medium to find new ways to see and use sugar.
Sweet Enough draws on techniques from glass blowing and culinary arts, in the form of sculpture, video installations and 2D works. The gallery will become a site of production and exchange as Rose creates exuberant sugar sculptures on-site.
Curated by Julia Powles.
Image: Rose Agnew, Sweet Enough. Image courtesy of the artist.