Trevor Keith Orford: Mr Turner’s Balcony

Mr Turner's Balcony was an interactive piece by local artist Trevor Keith Orford, which combined woodworking craftsmanship, optical illusion and a touch of whimsy.

Born in Albury, Trevor Keith Orford undertook cabinet and joinery at Albury TAFE before travelling extensively overseas for a few years. After his travels, he returned to his workshops in Albury and North East Victoria. In the 1970s, Orford first began sketching out ideas for what became the unique and interactive piece Mr Turner’s Balcony.

Inspired by English romantic landscape painter William Turner, this work paid tribute to the renowned artist’s imaginative landscapes, but with a twist. Orford’s main passion as a woodworker has been designing furniture pieces. His preferred choice of material was quality recycled timbers such as Californian Redwood, which was a popular material used for interior cupboards.

Mr Turner’s Balcony was an exemplary display of Orford’s woodworking skills; a wardrobe transformed from an interior hanging space to a whimsical vista viewed from a balcony. Every element of this wardrobe was crafted from collected material around this region from Wangaratta to Myrtleford and Chiltern. The curved background of the landscape painting by Mornington Peninsula artist Felicity Liebert employed the art technique – trompe-l'œil – creating an optical illusion of a disappearing landscape.

Mr Turner’s Balcony was completed in 2014 with a recent addition to the paintwork by Mitta Mitta artist Margaret Carey.