Jemima Wyman: Plume 20

From a distance, Plume 20 2022 appears as a single billowing cloud rising from a raging fire. On closer inspection, we realise Jemima Wyman’s work is a collage made of hundreds of separate clouds of smoke.

Wyman explores air as a site of contest. While usually invisible and intangible, here air appears congested and often toxic. Red flares, white smoke bombs and the yellow smog of tear gas come together in this towering collage. Wyman gleans haze-filled scenes of protest from online sources, printing and cutting each image from its original context. Organised gatherings and spontaneous uprisings, actions of both the political left and right pool together as scenes from Kyiv, New Delhi, Minneapolis, Hong Kong and elsewhere become one dense cloud. Occasionally, we can just make out a human figure.

The Plume series emerged from Wyman’s ongoing interest in street activism and the methods protestors use to disguise themselves. This series examines the ‘mask’ created by smoke and haze which can envelop a crowd, creating a shared identity or countering recognition of individuals. Tear gas, stun grenades and ‘flashbangs’ deployed by law enforcement demonstrate an even more menacing impact.

The artist dedicates this work to the memory of late Queensland artist and teacher Mark Webb (1957–2022).