INJURY
TRINITY KOCH
JUNE 11 - 25, 2020
Is an arm not a branch? A torso not a trunk? A leg not a root?
Just like the leaves our hair falls from our heads.
If we take a knife to tree, do we not take a knife to ourselves?
Injury involves a suite of three works which reflect damage done to the natural world onto the human body, establishing a visceral connection between the two. The two-channel video, Bandage (2020), single-channel video, Choke (2020), and digital photograph, Beheaded (2020), take the stump of a cut down tree and physically relate it to the body through suggestions of physical injury, choking, and beheading. By relating these bodily traumas to the tree, Bandage, Choke, and Beheaded see the natural environment as an extension of the body, imbuing it with sentience. Not political in aim, the three works simply offer the potential to feel empathy for the natural world and see it as something highly connected to human existence.
Trinity Koch is a Brisbane (Meanjin) based visual artist who works in video, performances for the camera, and photomedia. In her practice, Koch explores the connection of the human body and natural world. The domestic backyard often frames her work, intertwined with environmental concerns and spiritual perspectives. From these perspectives, Koch engages with the complex and multi-faceted relationships that can occur between the human and nature.
Koch is currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Alongside her artistic practice, she is also interested in curation, gallery management, and writing. Presently, she is an organising member of Concrete Circle ARI and volunteers at the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) in Fortitude Valley and Boxcopy ARI in South Brisbane.
Opening discussion with artist Trinity Koch and Nextdoor co-director Abby Rutter