Exhibition
David Wickens – High Lights
Where
Outstation Gallery8 Parap Place
Parap, 0820
Darwin, Northern Territory

Sunlight High Lights
Every place has it’s own light. The postcard version of the tropical north is bathed in bright sunlight giving the illusion of a tropical paradise lush with green vegetation and turquoise waters. For those of us who live here the reality is of a hot and harsh light. A scrabble of dried brown grass and faded paint that we view through squinted eyes as we scramble between air conditioned environments in an attempt to escape the immersive heat. It is tough country with even tougher inhabitants. Our built environment is weathered and beaten, painted with the bright midday sunlight. The only relief is the approaching dark wall of a wet season storm. In this moment the faded facades of iconic yet mundane structures are amplified. Shadows grow long and textures increase. It is a moment of calm before the storm. The high light levels focus us. Our world is tattered and torn, vibrant and fecund.
— David Wickens, October 2024