“And the last 10 years, I have created site-specific works in various locations.
“Sometimes they’re in public, sometimes they’re in private galleries, sometimes they’re in more institutional spaces.”
This instillation is labelled spatial deconstruction #30 (social fabric), and draws on Ms Coulter’s unique interpretation of the “interesting” SAM building.
While said building is grey, Ms Coulter’s work is anything but, using her renowned colour palette to express the way the building makes her feel.
“It's incredibly dominant in the landscape,” Ms Coulter said.
“And I wanted to understand some of the reasons behind that and how that might inform my work or ideas.”
The artist focused on the L-shaped balconies of the buildings and how they were arranged at various different heights and lengths around the entrances to the building.
Ms Coulter pointed out that the SAM building was quite literally elevating art in Shepparton, both because of the state-of-the-art nature of the building but also because of its vertical reach.
“And that, like the colours on the wall, has a very real reason for it,” she said.
“If a flood were to come through here, the art would be protected, and I think that’s intentional just the same.
“I’m not a local, of course, but it’s all about bringing your own lens to interpret the landscape and the space, and for me I’ve been inspired by the building.”
She put together a series of “test” patterns, weaving in the geometric features of the building with bright colours to plan the art wall.
“When I’m working with a specific audience, I like to engage them in that final process, letting them have some choice in the options,” Ms Coulter said.
“It feels like a lot more inclusive.”
Ms Coulter said she sketched out many different ideas when she first came to a space, “testing” each one until she found something she was happy with.
When she finishes her sketch, it feels like the work is “fully resolved”.
“Then the colours change how the work feels,” Ms Coulter said.
“The placement of the colours and their orders, their proportion geometrically, whether they’re placed in the corridor or on the main wall, the way I see it, it’s like creating a sculpture in a space.”
The original plan was for Ms Coulter to just paint the main wall on level four, but it has extended to the surrounding corridors and walls to create that more “sculptural” effect.
From her perspective, it makes it a more immersive experience, being in and around the art instead of just standing in front of it.
Ms Coulter compared her use of colour to sentence structure, because to her it was just another way of communicating, through a different language or medium.
“You might put certain letters together to make a word, and that makes the next sentence,” she said.
“So that’s how I think about the colours.
“If I put that colour like that, it’s going to vibrate off that one.
“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.”
Everything in her work is intentional — there’s purpose behind every line, the geometrics and colour theory play a part.
But it’s important to Ms Coulter that her art is accessible to everyone.
She’s happy to discuss in her work in technical terms with hardcore art enthusiasts, but everyone responds to it differently, regardless of Ms Coulter’s initial intention.
“They’re welcome to interpret it how they want,” Ms Coulter said.
“There’s a conceptual reason behind it for me, but I don’t need everyone to understand that, that’s just my process of creating the work.
“Part of my philosophy is that art should be available for everyone, not just to this exclusive hierarchical culture.”
SAM curator and head of exhibitions and collections Jessica O’Farrell said through Ms Coulter’s “playful” use of colour she had brought a sense of joy and specific mood to the level four floor space.
“I think that’s important because it’s both a space that showcases art, but it’s also a social backdrop, it occupies that space of being both a social place to gather and connect and be a viewer simultaneously,” she said.
“And that’s what the hope of this building is — to provide a space for the community to come, connect and share stories joyfully."
Emma Coulter’s spatial deconstruction #30 (social fabric) will be at SAM until the end of May next year.
About Emma Coulter
Northern Ireland-born Emma Coulter is an artist based between Melbourne and Macedon, Victoria. She’s known for her distinctive use of colour, creating bold and unique palettes through repetition. Ms Coulter’s work explores the interplay between abstraction, site-specificity and colour, reflecting on art’s role in society. Ms Coulter’s art has garnered attention both nationally and internationally. Notably, she recently completed a major public art project for Coffs Harbour’s new cultural centre (2023) and contributed a 130-metre ‘spatial deconstruction’ to Melbourne’s city square as part of the Metro Tunnel creative program (2021). Other public art commissions include works for Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne (2021), and QUT Art Museum, Brisbane (2021). Looking forward, Ms Coulter is poised to create an integrated public artwork in the South Melbourne cultural precinct in 2023.
