Stars of the Grass
4 November - 30 November 2021

Artereal Gallery is thrilled to present Stars of the Grass, Anna Carey’s latest solo exhibition. Presented exclusively online, Stars of the Grass continues Carey’s use and exploration of colour and her meticulous creation of uncanny miniatures.

To view & acquire artworks scroll to the end of this online exhibition page.

Stars of the Grass is a series of photographs of colour constellations based on the rainbow spectrum. These works are based on my research from an earlier series In Search of Rainbows where I employed Google Maps to create various coloured maps based on hotels and motels in which I geo-tagged colour clusters by a star pin to identify dominant colours across the world. The maps were used as research in which parts of the motels and hotels found through the maps were combined to create one fictional example of each colour.

After seeing these Google Map images, I was reminded of a passage from The Poetics of Space where Gaston Bachelard provides a new poetic perspective of shelter when he says:

Houses that shine on earth are ‘stars of the grass.’…In such images we have the impression that the stars in heaven come to live on earth, that the houses of men form earthly constellations. A terrestrial sign is set upon a celestial being…But however cosmic the isolated house lighted by the star of its lamp may become, it will always be a symbol of solitude.

This series of work consists of remapping these constellations on a miniature earth and photographing it. This body of work departs from my usual subject of the architectural model, however the process of photographing a miniature is the same in which I aim to ignite the imagination while exploring the urban environment. These works explore the connection between colour, space and place while demonstrating the poetics and aesthetics of the internet and information. The miniature reduces information and allows us to see from a higher perspective; to reflect on our home and universe allowing us to rediscover the universe ‘housed’ within us. The idea of our house as our universe has been a familiar experience to many people in the world while spending so much time in solitude at home.

Anna Carey
Artist Statement, 2021

Lava Royale 2020-21
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

Coral Shores 2021
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

Yellow Candlelight 2021
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

Pacific Jewel 2021
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

Iced Amethyst 2021
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

Pink Palace 2021
Giclée print
86 x 86 cm
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT

The artworks in Stars of the Grass are borne out of the research that Carey conducted for the 2017 series In Search of Rainbows. Carey used the omniscient Google Maps for her own cartographic purposes, creating new maps based on the colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. She geo-tagged these maps identifying dominant palette traits in hotels and motels across the world.

Stars of the Grass and In Search of Rainbows come from Carey’s fascination with colour, in both its playful and expansive qualities. These series are part of a broader practice which occupy a continuum and it is necessary to understand them together.

The works below are from In Search of Rainbows and correspond to the same niche on the colour spectrum as their Stars of the Grass counterparts.

Red Rose 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Orange Sun 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Yellow Moon 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Blue Pearl 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Purple Sage 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Pink Flamingo 2017
Giclée print
86.7 x 130 cm
Edition of 7

Artist Biography

Anna Carey is an artist from Palm Beach, Gold Coast who creates fictive architectural spaces based on vernacular iconic architecture which she photographs. Anna Carey received a Bachelor of Visual Media with Honours (first class) from Griffith University in Queensland and recently completed her Doctorate (2021). Carey has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia and internationally and her work has been curated into various regional galleries and other significant institutional exhibitions.

Anna Carey’s work was acquired for the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2018 from Carey’s 2015 Stardust series. Carey’s works have also been acquired for the collections of Artbank, The Gold Coast City Art Gallery, The National Gallery of Australia, The University of Queensland, and various major corporate and private collections. In 2019, the Soho House in Downtown Los Angeles acquired artworks from Carey’s Twilight (2014), Stardust (2016) and In Search of Rainbows (2017) series, as well as commissioning Carey to create a new work which is also on display in their new Downtown location in Los Angeles. Carey was awarded a New Work Grant by the Australia Council for the Arts (2011) and has been a finalist in the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award (2013), the Churchie Emerging Art Prize (2011) and in 2016 Carey was invited to participate in the Auckland Festival of Photography.

View all of the artworks in this online exhibition below. Please click on artwork to view in full screen mode. 

All prices are in Australian dollars and inclusive of GST. Freight and shipping costs not included. Please contact the gallery for assistance with freight and shipping. Prices are correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice. For sales enquiries email: info@artereal.com.au

Anna Carey

Lava Royale

2020-21
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now
Anna Carey

Coral shores

2021
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now
Anna Carey

Yellow candlelight

2021
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now
Anna Carey

Pacific Jewel

2021
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now
Anna Carey

Iced Amethyst

2021
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now
Anna Carey

Pink Palace

2021
Giclée print
Edition of 3 + AP and NFT
image 86 x 86 cm
framed 90 x 90 cm
$3000 unframed
$3750 framed
Buy Now

Upcoming Exhibition

main gallery
Owen Leong
5 April - 27 April 2024

Previous Exhibition

main gallery
Hyun-Hee Lee
2 February - 24 February 2024