Janenne Eaton

Janenne EATON
Australian, born 1950

R E E F 2015
enamel, vinyl, mirror and polymer clay on canvas
Geelong Gallery
Gift of the artist, 2019

Since the 1980s, Janenne Eaton has adopted an archaeological approach in the development of her landscape painting practice. Her works bear witness to the impact of the anthropocene: the current geological era in which human activity is exerting significant changes upon the environment and climate.

R E E F delineates a coral reef observed from an aerial perspective. Its bird’s eye view is a register of how technology facilitates new perspectives of the natural world. Issues of digital surveillance and the effects of globalisation are brought forth through the floating discs that resemble a camera’s viewfinder or GPS display. The network of small mirrors reflects the viewer’s own contribution to the current condition as Eaton perceives it, layering the synthetic matrix of pixels and grids with a momentary human presence.