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Michele McFarland's stick and bitumen horse inevitably became the focus of her recent exhibition. This horse, much larger than the other pieces, was placed in the centre of the small 'landing space' area and was the only work to have its own plinth. Horses, or shadows of her own horse sculptures, formed the basis of all the works.
Horses have always held a fascination for McFarland. She collects small images or models of them but insists: "They must have a specialness." She is not interested in literal representations but in stylized forms, especially if they carry historical and cultural connotations.
A feeling of specialness, mystery and antiquity was resonant in the main sculpture. This tail-less, stump-footed creature had the obviousness but also the sense of integrity of some traditional cultural objects. Entirely covered with broken gum tree sticks, the texture was so compelling one could feel its crunchy surface as though stroking it with the eye. The organic material: sticks arranged like fur, encouraged both a physical and an emotional response.
Other works included a number of small, stick covered, horse sculptures suspended from wires above the main piece, and like it, these figures were both simplified and bent unnaturally, heads twisted in impossible contortions. Sharp shadows thrown by these sculptures, before the sticks were added, were used as the basis for most of McFarland's other works in the show: drawings, wall and floor pieces. The floor and wall pieces all incorporated sticks and bitumen to explore pattern and texture. Colour, both positive and negative relief patterning, sawn up pieces of dowel dyed with bitumen and turpentine, pale match-like wood and found sharpened stick-ends were all used to enliven the