Jonathan McBurnie: Birdland

North Queensland artist Jonathan McBurnie draws upon the aesthetics of professional wrestling, a performative genre he describes as a fascinating paradox: “on one level it’s a fiction with planned storylines and predetermined victories and losses; and on another level it’s all too real with a high physical toll, frequent injuries and subsequent self-medication.” The exhibition of new drawings on a large, immersive scale are inspired by parallels between professional wrestling and McBurnie’s personal experience of continuing his creative practice amid illness and the impact of an ongoing recovery.