About the artwork

A meditation on the fragility of our environment and the transience of the marks we leave behind, Nico Krijno’s GONDWANA BATHOLITH (1) Composition with both geological and photographic time brings us into a space where nature and humanity communicate together. This is a place where late-Precambrian metamorphic sandstone becomes the site of spiritual exercise, as significant and vulnerable as any sentient life.

Informed by ancient rock paintings and engravings believed to bring fortune to the hunt, Krijno’s work speaks of the ways human presence transforms a landscape – to beautiful or devastating effect.

About the artist

Based in South Africa, Nico Krijno’s photography exists at the intersection of performance, painting, montage and sculpture. He builds sculptures out of discarded materials and continues to rearrange them over and over, photographing them during this process. These photographs are then re-processed and altered again into new forms – using Photoshop, paint and/or collage – creating new narratives and meaning. His explorations represent an experiment into the perceived truths of objects, and the medium of photography and its history. Reminiscent of traditional still lifes, Nico’s photographs are loaded with humorous visual information, challenging the boundaries of the still image with his ever-changing mise-en-scène. His work has been presented at Unseen Amsterdam and Photo London, and his latest book, How To Leave Your Body Behind, was published by b.frank books in 2019.

GONDWANA BATHOLITH (1) Composition with both geological and photographic time was commissioned by Photo Australia and the Metro Tunnel Creative Program for PHOTO 2021.