Nusra Latif Qureshi, VIRES ACQUIRIT EUNDO, 2017, illustration, Art and Heritage Collection, Melbourne, City of Melbourne
Summary
Artist statement
The three paintings in the 'Vires Acquirit Eundo' series reference the various objects, artefacts and photographs in council’s Art and Heritage Collection. For this commission I focused on layering the eras, influences and connections that the city has experienced and formed with its people, architecture and past. The collection presented a rich assortment of the material elements of an urban structure constantly evolving, resolving its challenges and thriving. My aim was to formulate an aesthetically cohesive response which expresses not only the rich past and present of the city but also relates my personal experience of living and studying in Melbourne.
This painting is vaguely representative of an older Melbourne, with its faded pale green. There is a group photograph of perhaps some tradesmen; they are overlapped with outlined details of a public toilet roof – a highly ornate circular structure. In the lower right corner, I have painted the technical drawing of the garbage collection cart – again an extremely detailed form. Other elements in the painting include various objects that signify the formality of council business, such as the clerk’s wig, the seal press, and a portrait sketch of an unknown gentleman. There is also a thin outlined portrait of a Melburnian that came from a photography studio across the city hall.
Nusra Latif Qureshi
