Sharnana
Drew McDonald Sharnana Recycled ABS plastic, steel, acrylic mural paint, calcium carbonate. Length 2.25m x Height 1.35m x Width 1.2m
Why is there a Shark coming out of a Banana? Sharnana makes no sense, it is a merging of a life sized great white shark, one of the most feared creatures on the planet and the Banana, arguably the funniest and most recognisable of fruits.
Sharnana's yellow and brown bruised banana peel is so realistic that it smells ripe enough to eat and the sharks head is reminiscent of a banana flavoured Jaws, emerging up from the depths.
This surreal marriage of these two organic forms is completely absurd yet next time you open a banana your subconscious might tell you to check there isn’t a shark launching out of it.
I have always found the idea of humanity evolving to what it has become absurd. I grew up without the internet, to now using a handheld device which I can have real time face to face conversations with a loved one on the other side of the planet.
Not only that, but we are also literally living on a spinning rock in infinity (space) with asteroids flying past us akin to a shooting gallery.
My most notable introduction to this absurdity in visual art was by the 20th century Surrealist painter Rene Magritte. Magritte created paintings such as The Collective Intervention 1934 and The Wonders of Nature 1953 where he has merged the head of a fish with human legs (reverse mermaid).
These dream-like depictions merging everyday iconography into irrational forms are what I explore through my art practice.
To stop admire and question the reality of a shark coming out of a peeled banana or why a fish has women’s legs is to question what it means to exist on a rock floating in space.