Butch Fountain is a grouping of distinct works forming a cohesive installation that takes visual cues from novelty structures typically found on Australian roadsides. The installation features an immense fibreglass figure, a vinyl advertisement banner, a re-assembled sculptural water fountain, ceramic ‘ribbon cutting’ scissors, and a documentary-style video work. In Butch Fountain hypothetical landmarks are imagined, designed and marketed to construct more nuanced representations of regional communities such as the one Wagstaff was raised in. These objects and images serve to celebrate and compare the modes of representation of queer and regional communities, capturing the multi-faceted ways each community advertises and constructs its identity.
Welded steel and fiberglass structures make up the core sculptural elements in Butch Fountain, referencing the industrial DIY aesthetic of rural townships, while also highlighting specific material memories from the artist’s childhood. Through the studio process, the artist asks how engaging with these materials can manifest the celebration of a queer individual who explores masculinity through matter. This body of work uses satire, comparison, and the common visual language of Australia’s ‘big things’ as a strategy to encourage a broader audience engagement and understanding of the artwork’s themes.
