OUTLAND, a collaborative installation by Valerie Sparks and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah brings together a shared interest in notions of migration and cross-cultural identity. Drawing on the historical interface of faith and science, both Sparks and Abdullah seek to bring a sense of the sublime into a domestic artifice of their own creation.
For Melbourne Art Fair Sparks has created a 16 metre long lush utopian landscape. Referencing French scenic wallpapers of the 19th century Sparks’ fabricated landscape brings together museum specimens and multiple points of perspective, collapsing geographical space and time.
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah’s body of hand-carved sculptural work provides an autobiographic exploration of the natural world. Embracing the subjective nature of childhood memories, he seeks to reconstruct an alternative reality, blending and overlaying the influences of his Muslim Australian background.
The panoramic drama of Sparks’ monumental wall work comes together with Abdullah’s sculptural pieces to create an immersive environment that reflects the artists’ shared concerns.