When many of us saunter the streets of Dee Why, Brookvale, Narraweena or most suburbs on the Northern Beaches, a deep and profound appreciation of 1950’s and 60’s residential architectural splendour is perhaps not the first thought that springs to mind. But for Dee Why’s Joshua ‘Coppo’ Copland-Nielsen, these are precisely the meditations he’s consumed with.
As Josh explains, “Every time I see a new fence pop up around a 1950’s or 60’s home, with a yellow notice of doom development application proposal gleaming out to the street, it just hurts to know the home will soon be demolished, its history gone forever.”
For this reason, the strapping, young, bearded artist and printmaker, currently studying a Master of Fine Arts at the National Art School, has created an ongoing series of artworks dubbed, Suburban Australiana, devoted to ensuring the homes are etched forever in his work because, “These homes are disappearing so quickly, the fast-erasing post-war home, cast to the scrap heap as new owners move in to complete knockdown rebuilds, often with the passing away of the very people who built the homes in the first place.”
So, if you see a young man in pristine 1960’s fashion eyeing off your home, it’s most likely Josh. In order to capture and document as many homes as possible before they’re gone, he’s a prodigious walker, carrying his camera with him to photograph many homes locally. “I feel it’s imperative to archive and document these places, and then represent them through my artwork at a later stage when I get the chance.”
Josh’s works consider the narrative and personality a home absorbs within its lifetime. Through an appreciation of fly wire doors, railings, roof tiles, chimneys, picket fences and more, he represents the Australian lifestyle and landscape that ties to those personal nostalgic traits we share within the 20th century home. “The archiving of these homes is invaluable to the individuality of our local history and sadly something that lacks attention.”
A sentimental bloke through and through, Josh has a very personal connection to the artworks he’s creating, having nursed his mother in her final days before succumbing to cancer in precisely the sort of post-war Dee Why home he holds in such awe.
“The home, to me, in essence is a ghostly life form that embodies our landscape, much like an inanimate tree that creeks and moves, but never says a word more. In the home we experience times of sorrow, applaud and appreciation, especially to those childhood memories that we link to our nostalgic interests.”
Josh’s delineation of Suburban Australiana takes place in a yearn to champion those parts of the Australian landscape that lack a sense of portrayal due to their demise in a modern period that chases new economies of space. “I’m hoping to ensure the appreciation, aesthetic and mystique of the Australian suburban home is represented and heard. These works capture the actual personality of the Australian and their currently dissolving landscape.”
To see more of Joshua’s Suburban Australiana series, as well as his other artworks, visit joshcoppo.com and follow @j.coppo on Instagram.