Nightwatch Street Collage

Seeing Picasso's early works in Madrid, I was drawn to the interior rooms which encapsulated his subjects. In Australia, the eye is always outward, so I was compelled to create a series of artworks that looked at the outside world of suburban backyards. They are strange private-public world where people explore their most personal pursuits, knowing their neighbours can see them. It turns out the suburbs are disturbingly voyeuristic. This work explores the loneliness of wanting to play games without anyone to play with. The title Nightwatch Street comes from the cricket term Nightwatchman - the lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play.