'en route' offers a lush, botanical intervention to australia's modernist heide museum

australia’s heide museum of modern art presents artists wona bae and charlie lawler of loose leaf studio with their spatial work entitled ‘en route.’ marking their first public museum presentation, these large-scale installations, comprised of lush gatherings of leaves, create an experiential journey within the iconic modernist building heide II and encourages viewers to consider what the relationship between human activity and the environment might hold. ‘en route’ will show at the heide museum of modern art from november 9th 2019 to february 2nd 2020.

all images by sean fennessy

south korean-born artist wona bae and australian artist charlie lawler are the founders of the acclaimed loose leaf studio. the duo is known for their concept-driven artworks that challenge conventional ideas about landscape and navigate visceral and symbiotic connections between people and nature. for ‘en route’ at heide museum of modern art, the artists respond spatially and temporally to heide II’s spaces through a series of site-specific sculptures. bae and lawler have experimented with botanical material using a language of texture and reduction — deconstructing familiar forms and devising new landscapes to be considered and explored.

artist wona bae comments: ‘heide is one of our favourite architectural sites and it is a privilege to have had such incredible access to this historic space, creating contemporary work that engages with the vision that john and sunday reed had for the house.’ artist charlie lawler adds: ‘through a series of site specific interventions, we present the natural world as the protagonist with an active voice and central role. with en route we invite visitors to imagine a time when these familiar yet foreign natural forms gradually engulf the building at heide II, rolling down hallways and over walls.’

project info:

project title: en route

design: loose leaf studio | @looseleaf__

artists: wona bae, charlie lawler

location: heide museum of modern art

dates: november 9th 2019 — february 2nd 2020

photography: sean fennessy