Lorne is a busy summer tourist destination where in Winter 80% of the houses lay empty. These empty houses are beach houses, waiting for their owners to return in Summer along with the 9,000 other visitors. Lorne is popular for surfers, bush walkers, nature lovers and ice cream connoisseurs.
Lorne has been a getaway place for me since I was small. My father used to take us on drives down there every few weekends to either do a bushwalk or just have fish and chips for dinner. No visit was complete without a frozen yoghurt ice-cream and a walk along the beach. The iconic Pier and Grand Pacific Hotel are structures that everyone recognises as Lorne and are included in this series.
I wish to convey the emptiness of the town during the winter months in my work. Visiting summer towns in the opposing season gives you a different feeling. The Winter colour palette is very different to Summer’s. Winter is hanging out with friends by the fire. The smell of the Otways fresh forest air. The kookaburras laughing at each other.
This work shows a side of Lorne that Summer visitors rarely see.
