Artist Deb Mansfield’s grandfather was a Hemmingway-esque sea captain and inventor, who worked for the British Navy dismantling ocean mines post WWII. In his later years he designed sea craft, including a fantastical submarine that wasn’t realised until well after his death. Mansfield herself worked as a sailor from 1996-9, and it’s these fascinating family histories that she explores in this solo exhibition at Wellington St Projects.
Mansfield is interested in peripheral sites — islands, intertidal zones, space travel — as avenues for investigating the nature of boundaries and borders. For us land-locked lubbers, brace yourselves for a sea change.