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Lea Ward My Little Mowers 3 - 21 October, 2006 Opening Wednesday 4 October, 6-8pm Growing up in suburban Melbourne, Lea Ward’s paintings depict a suburban Australian icon, the Victa Lawnmower. Lea Ward is a young artist who completed fine art studies at Box Hill TAFE and Melbourne University, she was short listed for the Metro5 Art Prize in 2006. My interest in the lawnmower had its origins in the hard rubbish collection and consumer culture. It was one of the items I noticed in amongst the appliances that are dumped annually on the nature strip. My curiosity has shifted in the direction of what I perceive the lawnmower to represent in Australian society. I see it as a symbol of the suburban Australian dream, quater acre block, the same as the one next door and each with its own patch of lawn that is mowed on the weekend. During the painting process, the lawnmowers begin to take on an identity of their own, at times reflecting the character of people I know and at others the characters I imagine would own a nice shiny lawnmower.