Christopher Zanko
The Bathroom | 2023 | acrylic on wood relief carving | 59 x 54cm
Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2024 - Finalist
[Image courtesy of the artist and Edwina Corlette, Brisbane.]
Artist Statement
From the house I grew up in, to the share houses and rentals I've lived in since, there has always been a variation of this tile in the bathroom, laundry, or kitchen. In recent years, I've begun to collect different colour variations of it. Sometimes I feel as though I've seen them all, then I incidentally come across a new colour motif. Synonymous with the mid-century red brick and fibro houses in my local area of Wollongong, many of the houses and buildings with these tiles are disappearing. Carving this design into wood is a way of enacting a sense of permanence, as the marks cannot be undone.