LUMP
2023
In February 2017, Scott Morrison, then the Treasurer of Australia, brought a lump of coal into the Parliament House in Canberra as a prop during Question Time. He held up the coal and said, "This is coal. Don't be afraid, don't be scared.” The ‘harmless’ piece of coal in question came from the Hunter Valley, it was lacquered and coated in a protective film to ensure it didn’t mark the starched cuffs and attire of those who handled it. Across 16 collages, this artwork extracts the object and its handling, in order to emphasize the strange choreography of tossing, brandishing and cradling that occurs in the coal politics of Australia.