John Loker Wiper! 15, 2001

John Loker’s Wipeout prints (2001) draw on the artist’s travels through the Australian Outback, where encounters with the vast desert landscape and its unpredictable weather conditions introduced new motifs into his work. Inspired by the experience of a dust devil, or desert whirlwind, Loker developed the sweeping arc of a windscreen wiper into an abstract form. In this monoprint, a broad, textured curve of silver-grey is set against a vivid pink ground, interrupted by a dark exclamation mark. The image brings together the physical action of wiping a surface with the sudden force of a natural phenomenon, reflecting Loker’s longstanding interest in the relationship between order and disruption. The motif forms part of an evolving visual language in which observations of the physical world are transformed into explorations of movement, instability and opposing forces.