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.
Here, an intense emerald green provides the backdrop for the Moomba royalty and Dame Edna. In the upper right hand is one of the robes used in council ceremonies and on the left side is the most familiar of Moomba robes. In the lower left hand is the drawing for an ice cream cart, one among many other vendor carts for the city. The pattern of a grille from one of the city buildings is spread over the images; it veers off and twists itself in and out of the robes and other figures in the image. Echoing the festive spirit of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, there is also an older remnant just under the main group – a girl curtseying with a huge oriental fan. The light green figure in silhouette is a female participant in a Moomba parade, dressed up in a rather strange finery comprising of fake antlers, faux furs and frills, bells and maracas.
Nusra Latif Qureshi
