William Versace

William Versace’s scagliola tablets merge natural and artificial materials, incorporating pigments derived from sea life and ochres alongside seaweed-cast pewter forms. Made through a hand-sifting process rooted in his Calabrian heritage, the works resemble geological cross-sections – layered strata that hold traces of time and environment. Many pieces are created in collaboration with natural forces such as sea snails, rain, and salt, reflecting Versace’s ongoing interest in relinquishing control to place and process.

Of this work, he says: "Sometimes an entire world is already beneath our feet.

"In Tasmania’s southwest wilderness, lichen spreads across ancient rocks and trees, forming intricate landscapes of its own. What appears from a distance as a patch of colour becomes, on closer inspection, an extraordinary world of valleys, forests, coastlines and continents.

"I’ve always been fascinated by this confusion of scale. How a few centimetres of rock can contain something that feels as expansive as the mountains surrounding it. How looking more closely at something can somehow make it feel larger.
Lichen Patch explores this shifting perspective.

"Using pigments made from lichen, I build layers of colour and texture across the surface, allowing forms to emerge that resemble landscapes viewed from above. A pewter frame winds around the edges like the vegetation that slowly overtakes the rocks beneath it.

"The work asks us to reconsider where a landscape begins and ends.

"Perhaps the difference between a mountain range and a patch of lichen is simply how far away we’re standing."