Developers tell us they are 'building communities'. They pave roads through sand or scrub then peg out small blocks cheek by jowl on which they build large houses separated by high fences. These new communities, sans people and amenities at the time of selling, promise the good life to those who buy into them. In this exhibition, Datodi articulates the destruction of nature underlying the construction of the dream.

With etched zinc plates, solvent prints, acrylic paint and balsa wood, the artist offers thought provoking relief works that depict the land's undulating contours competing with the rigidity of the developer's plan and untamed grass trees being displaced by rectilinear roof tops. Each exhibit is constructed with fine skill so the whole exhibition reinforces the artist's statement, yet there is sufficient room for viewers to play with their own thoughts on the matter. For example the series Grass Lands involves a collection of white square boxes with clear acrylic lids, not unlike glass topped specimen cases. Beneath a decorated lid, each case reveals a small white balsa wood model of either land contours, surveyors' pegs, a section of a subdivision, or a house plan. Together they tell a story while separately they make valid comments.

The large horizontally aligned works that combine etched zinc metal plates or solvent prints with balsa wood are quite impressive both for their presentation and the ideas they ignite in the viewer. Even the smaller renditions of these concepts have a decided impact as the artist knows his subject and understands his artform. Of the larger works the most appreciated is the etched plate and balsa wood Before; it has a fascinating visual and tactile quality and makes a pertinent comment. Also appreciated is Subdivision a large construction of undulating white painted land contours running through a rigid wooden grid. We aren't sure if the grid is impeding the natural flow of the land or if the shifting sands will ultimately undermine all attempts to control it.

This fine exhibition reminds us how real beauty is often overlooked during the quest for an imagined ideal. Datodi has something pertinent to say and says it well in a comprehensive artistic vocabulary.