Title : Please Mister Postman
Medium: Fake walnut veneer sourced from second-hand rococo ‘Franco Cozzo’ style Italianate wardrobe
Dimensions :
45 x 76 x 19cm
About the artwork:
The letterbox was once a portal to another world. Letters from loved ones, from elsewhere, from other places, postcards, and birthday cards. These things belong to another time. I see an elderly man across the road shuffle in an oversized flannelette shirt and collapsing slippers to his empty letterbox two or three times a day.
As I ride my bike, certain things grab my attention. There was something about this entirely unassuming letterbox in Coburg that prompted me to recreate it as a sculptural work. I took a photo of the letterbox and then recreated it in cheap walnut veneer which I sourced from a ‘Franco Cozzo’ style wardrobe which I found in a local secondhand store. Four identical Italianate wardrobes in the Salvation Army opp shop spoke of the recent death of an Italian nonna. The house was sold, the furniture donated. Other worlds, other places, other lives. I feel that a certain sadness unites the wardrobe and the forlorn collapsing letterbox.
Having made the letterbox, I decided to take a photo of the finished work and mail all the residents of the block of flats a photo of a replica of their letterbox with an accompanying letter, inviting feedback.
Sadly, I am yet to receive any reply.
Please Mister Postman, look and see
Is there a letter, a letter for me
I check my letterbox every day.
About Julian:
I was born in Geelong and live in Melbourne, Australia. In the early 1980s I completed an Arts degree with a major in Philosophy. It wasn’t until my mid-thirties that I began doing art which has from the beginning included both oil painting and mixed media assemblage. Since 2014 I have focussed mainly on wooden sculpture and assemblage with more than the occasional detour into conceptual territory. I would not be surprised if I return to painting in the future. I have been a finalist in a number of sculpture prizes in recent years including the Woollahra and Deakin University Small Sculpture Awards amongst others. I have works in Artbank, The Moreland Art Collection and private collections.