With his collection of wall reliefs and carved poles, Hill takes us beneath the forest canopy to reveal the landforms that support the trees, then under the bark to trace the trails of insects that burrow in the wood. Next he brings us to the sea and how the wavelets on the surface are echoed in the rippled seabed below. Meanwhile, through it all, Hill has us contemplating shades of white.
The large wall reliefs are composed of ever decreasing layers of organic shapes cut from MDF and painted white. They have a variety of interpretations from topographical maps (Growth Lines) and fungi (Weathered) to aquatic life forms (Sea Sponge) and the path left in the sand by the receding tide (Flow). Once you've decided just what it is you're viewing, turn and see the same exhibit from another angle to discover something different. The shadows cast by each level, shift with the change of light exacerbating the concept of liquid movement and creating fluid thought.
These white constructions are hung on white walls to provide the viewer with another visual conundrum; identifying the colour White. We note how the exhibits' colours range from cool snowdrift white to warm clotted cream white, all the while delighting in having our colour recognition processes expanded.
Equally evocative are the carved timber poles that provide yet another facet of life just under the surface. Two exhibits, Sun Bleached and Borers, involve the mid-section of smoothed, half-round Marri poles carved through with undulating abstract shapes that mimic and magnify the path left by timber eating insects. While the former is rubbed with white paint around the carved area, the latter is fully rubbed white giving it a sense of ghostly majesty. Meanwhile the paint rubbed Jarrah poles Following the Grain I & II recapture the strength and beauty of the once living plant.
Hill's work was inspired by ‘below the surface' activities and the effect they have on tree and sea. These are contemplative works that provide beautiful reminders of the ever-changing aspects of nature in its continuous cycles of life, death and renewal. An excellent exhibition on many levels.