eX de Medici uses this image of an F88 Steyr rifle used by the Australian Defence Force as well ...

eX de Medici uses this image of an F88 Steyr rifle used by the Australian Defence Force as well as casings of hand grenades left over from the Second World War [P11527.051] to create the artwork 'F88C Steyr (Bullpup) + Cordited (MS.WWII) Handgrenades (Pineapples) Solomon Islands/Guadalcanal, Gifu + Hell's Point' [ART94157] which symbolises the past and present military action in the Solomon Islands. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with troops from New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga formed the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). The RAMSI peacekeeping mission has been present in the Solomon Islands since 2003. eX de Medici was sent to the Solomon Islands in March 2009 as an Australian War Memorial official artists during one of the wettest weeks of the year. Continual downpour restricted her ability to paint or sketch on site. De Medici relied on journal records and hundreds of photographs of her observations and experiences to produce her artwork. Stitching together elements from numerous photographs, de Medici created a series of artworks that does not reflect a particular location, instead merges historical and contemporary motifs revealing the uncertain future of the Solomon Islands.