Part of the Essence of Containment series, these images feature the prints, videos and interior installations presented at Internazionale di Grafica – Venice, Italy, 2011 to 2013. The prints highlight the poles that dominate the Venetian canals. Exploring the major trading city of Venice, Vicki McConville initially created small watercolours that were then transformed into archival inkjet prints. A series of travel suitcases was transformed into peep hole dioramas, containing found Venetian objects, glass, mirrors and magnifying glasses. The installation was accompanied by videos that related to Venice and its place along the Silk Road. This installation was inspired by Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”, 1972.

The Essence of Containment: Traversing the Terrain of Trade and Transformation is Vicki McConville’s ongoing studio based research project. The project was initiated at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia as part of a PhD (Fine Art / Research).

Between 2011 and 2017 Vicki McConville was an Artist in Resident in Venice, Istanbul, Delhi, Beijing, all major sites on historical and contemporary ‘trade routes’. The residencies involved collection of visual, sound and text based research materials followed by creative production, international collaborations and presentations. 

The project initially investigated travel, trade and the personal transformation impact on images and iconography and involved creative production in projections, video, sound, print media and diorama constructions. 

The research involves exploring how travel and trade are immersive methodologies that lead to the transformation of iconographies. In essence, how ‘the container’ of trade changed the world. 

The concept of ‘the container’ has since been further explored as it relates to the use of psychedelics as a means of personal transformation. 

The work, still in progress, has been shown at Monash University, Melbourne, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy, Sanskriti Foundation Delhi, the C.e.C, Bhimtal, India, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India and at the Atelier Mondial , Basel, as part of Art Basel, Switzerland.