Driving with our eyes closed (toy tractor driver)

Pollen ink on gesso panel

305 x 405mm

This is one of 38 pollen paintings featured in my show Problems of Success at David Parr House.

Text for the show below:

Problems of Success features works created with pollen-based paint and custom tools, examining how modern farming practices transform diverse ecosystems into monocultures. Pollen deposits in soil provide a historical record of the damaging impact on diverse ecosystems such as rainforests, grass lands and rural habitats as they are converted into single-crop agricultural lands. 

This body of work explores the systemic impact of global capitalism on our food systems and the personal stories and internal conflicts of individuals within these systems. The textual and visual pieces, from documented family mottos to large-scale irrigation landscapes, each contribute to a broader narrative about the paradoxical nature of agricultural innovation—where success often breeds new challenges.

Using pollen as both medium and metaphor, Yauner invites viewers to consider how human innovation impacts natural systems and the true cost of agricultural advancement.

This show falls in "Morris Quarter," when Yauner dedicates three months to working in the spirit of William Morris.Like Morris before him, Yauner acknowledges that his perspective on ecological and social issues stems from his white middle-class background. Rather than diminishing his work, Yauner sees this acknowledgment as both a responsibility and motivation to create meaningful change through art. The title "Problems of Success" emerges from Yauner's reflection on how personal struggles often arise through striving for success and the unforeseen challenges that stem from achievement and ambition—a complexity that both he and Morris faced as privileged artists seeking to effect social change. Problems of Success invites contemplation of the true cost of progress, using pollen not just as a medium but as a metaphor for the delicate balance between human intervention and natural systems.