As Above So Below

About

Fresh from it's début in New York, Odette's show marks a study of geography, belief systems and the flows of nature. The significance of the phrase ‘as above, so below' is that it is one which indigenous cultures live by: a belief that the heavens and the earth are the foundation of all creatures, including themselves. Land and sky are more than just geographical icons; they are mirrors in which they see themselves reflected. The images document the vast desert landscape of Southern Australia — a traditional home of indigenous peoples — from directly above and below a single standing point, brought together as a double exposure. Odette England combines what otherwise exists separately, to explore the significance of primal ‘middle ground' where humankind resides. The series was made during an Artist Research Residency: Odette was appointed as a Visiting Fellow by the University of New South Wales, to live and work at the Arid Zone Research Station of the Imaging the Land Research Institute (ILIRI) from May-June 2009. ILIRI is Australia's only research institute concerned with artistic interpretation of the science of land. Odette England is an Australian artist currently based in London. She is a graduate of the University of South Australia and City of Westminster College London. Her photographs have been exhibited in France, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. In 2010, she was named a winner of the Flash Forward Emerging Photographers award for the second year running