Karl de Waal The channel series
mixed media
26 x 210 x 8 cm
Several years ago, while driving up and down highways, cocooned in my car, I viewed the world outside with a sense of detachment. This led to a series of works involving rudimentary farm dioramas with plastic animals. While creating them, I discovered the OO scale models used by model railway enthusiasts.
These nine scenarios are snippets of life. Each has an open-ended narrative allowing the viewer personal interpretation. The house bricks act as a foundation. Each brick is numbered with a vintage bakelite channel knob, compounding the sense of voyeurism.
This work explores the distance between what we see and know, and the tenuous connections that help construct our personal realities and identities.
- Karl de Waal, 2015