Marlies Oakley
Random conversations between two lovers | 2026 | collage in recycled bottle tops | 123 x 94cm
Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2026 - Finalist
Image courtesy of artist.
Marlies Oakley
QLD
Random conversations between two lovers
2026
Collage in recycled bottle tops
123 x 94cm
Random Conversations Between Two Lovers explores the unpredictable rhythms of human communication through the language of collage. Using discarded comic book speech bubbles, I have paired fragments of dialogue and sealed them within bottle tops — small, intimate frames that invite close inspection.
The randomness of the text echoes the spirit of Dada poetry, where meaning emerges not from logic, but from chance. Each pairing forms a tiny, accidental narrative — sometimes humorous, sometimes disjointed — reflecting the strange, fragmented exchanges that occur between people who know each other too well.
In relationships, we often speak without truly listening, our words overlapping and tangling like the mismatched phrases in these collaged bubbles. By isolating and recombining these snippets, I aim to capture the beauty and absurdity of everyday communication — the tender misunderstandings, the playful nonsense, the shared noise that somehow still connects us.