Abbey McCulloch
I Want
September 21 - October 7, 2006

Abbey McCulloch is of a generation that is able to paint girly things about girls for girls (and boys). In my exhibiting youth it would not have been discussed, it would not have been thought of. Some of the most compelling images of recent American art have been developed out of this very state. Here I’m thinking of the work of Rita Ackermann and Lisa Yuskavage and sometimes this naughty imagery is used by male artists – what would Nara’s oeuvre be without his evil doll like girls smoking, skateboarding and causing mayhem. Abbey’s work stems from a dramatic episode; continually repainting the girl in all her scenarios has a therapeutic role. Lucky for us. Jenny Watson, May 2006

This is a greedy little show about searching for satiety.
I came back from my first trip to the U.S last year with a feeling of deflated visions.
This was largely due to my childhood adoption of the American ideal.
I wanted an old yellow bus to pick me up from school. I wanted waffles for breakfast and a wood paneled station-wagon in the driveway.
I wanted the Wonder Years.
An unfettered love of Americana.
Or at least the construction of it.
I was in love with the plans. The myth.
I watched the hopeful starlets sunning by my hotel pool.
I sketched them soaking up Hollywood. Their ambitions so revved you could feel the tenacity with every hair toss.
It was just a giant landscape of illusion.
The smoke and the mirrors are working, but they’re visible.
The construction of the aura is as potent as the aura itself.
So with my sketches, I took this idea of wanting the ideal, imaginary or not, and tried to capture a sense of this monster.
The distortion of craving something that only partially exists.
We are our own little America. Abbey McCulloch, 2006

Abbey McCulloch’s works are expressive representations of the female.
They capture dualities and contradictions.

Abbey McCulloch is a full-time artist, based on the Gold Coast. She is a graduate of the Queensland College of Art (Fine Arts), currently undertaking her Masters Degree. Her work has is collected in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the USA and throughout Australia.