Since 1996 I have been involved with an ongoing work The History of Salt . . . The process of salting has developed gradually as an expression of the idea that the psychology of Australia as a people, as well as our perception of our own history, is inextricably linked to that interim period that was spent at sea during our ancestors' migration to Australia.
The History of Salt . . . among other things, allows me to investigate and respond to how we perceive history both personally and culturally.

Chris Lawrie : Curriculum Vitae

Born in Broken Hill in 1949.
Grew up in Glenelg, South Australia.

Studied Art at the SA School of Art and The National Gallery School (Victorian College of the Arts) 1969 - 1972.
Awarded Painting Prize National Gallery School 1972
Held one-man, two-man Shows and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Adelaide and Melboune until leaving for London in 1974.

Moved to Sydney in 1984, to Bundeena, south of Sydney in 1990, and in 1995 commenced work on The History of Salt . . .

Works from The History of Salt . . . have been exhibited on numerous occasions in Bundeena and also with

• The AAP Bundeena Artists Exhibition
AAP Centre, Sydney 1998

• Two Man Show PCL Exhibitionists, Sydney 1999

• Southern Sydney Artists - Hazelhurst Gallery, Jan 2000

• Southern Exposure 1- Hazelhurst Gallery, April 2001

• Centenary of Federation Exhibition - Hazelhurst Gallery, 2001

• Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award Exhibition - Hazelhurst Gallery2001

• One Man Show - Hazelhurst Gallery 2002

• Southern Exposure 2: National Park - Hazelhurst Gallery, 2002

• Untitled Work: Spot The Box Gallery Sydney 2003

• Southern Exposure 3: Food For Thought - Hazelhurst Gallery, 2003

• Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award Exhibition - Hazelhurst Gallery 2003

• Southern Exposure 4: God's Own Country- Hazelhurst Gallery, 2005

• Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award Exhibition - Hazelhurst Gallery 2007
Winner of the Prize: Local Artist Award. for 'The Trip . . . (In 1996 we drove from Adelaide to Sydney in the white Falcon and I shot my first roll of film.)

• Finalist Sydney Life Art and About Exhibition Hyde Park 2010 Mikhail and the Dust Storm

•After The Bel: Hurstville City Museum and Gallery 2010l

• Hula Dreams / Ukeleles Gallery East Sydney 2011

• One man exhibition 'Settling Dust . . . ' Portrait/Landscape Hazelhurst Regional gallery 2011

• The History of Salt . . . is a project which involves a contemplation of history. It could be loosely defined as an interpretation, both personal and social, of Australian History and its psychological baggage.

There is also ya secondar and possibly more important intention within this concept and that is that I allow myself the room to reinterpret and present in a contemporary context, unfinished artworks, photographic series etc., from the period 1975 - 1990.

There are recurring themes that resurface within this context:

• ambivalence and paradox, which are the residue of the migration process, and are filtered to a lesser or greater degree by generations.

• the sea, which is the distance between point A and point B.

• weaving: a family tradition, if now only conceptual.

• the process of “Salting”, which can preserve or destroy, and which hopefully has the inherent qualities necessary to express and communicate the aforementioned concerns.

Chris Lawrie