The Final Work
Installed March 30, 2008.
Memento Mori (one from the heart)
LOCATION: intersection of paths below Government House Gate, near gazebo
MATERIALS: palm efflorescence, cotton
DIMENSIONS: 90 x 4.5 x 120 cm
In memorium; for N.G.,B.M.,P.B.,B.O. and all the creative souls that I have known, who left us before their time.
One storm too many.
Throughout november and december Sydney has manifested her sub-tropical nature with a series of spectacular thunderstorms.
After surviving being washed away in the torrent too many times, numi find themselves a bit worse for wear. They are now perched on the bank of the creek, as if awaiting imminent launch but still held back by the colonial stone block.
moontrap
installed August 27
LOCATION: Herb Garden, flanking Liberty Fountain.
DIMENSIONS: 5 x 4.40 metres.
In the coming months moontrap will capture the waxing moon
as it hangs in the sky before sunset.
A fully eclipsed moon was its first prey.
first fleet
installed august 8
location: Herb Garden, on Germander hedge around sundial
dimensions variable
There were 11 ships in the First Fleet to arrive in Sydney in 1888.
There are 11 ships launched in my first fleet in the Gardens.
They float on the hedge as though lost on the Sargasso Sea, seeking to navigate by the sundial in their midst.
Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Artist in Residence 2007
This project is ongoing from March 2007 till March 2008 as part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Artist in Residence Program. You can follow its progress through the pages of this journal.
PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT
The word photosynthesis describes the process whereby plants create energy from sunlight & green chlorophyll. This project echoes that alchemy, by creating art that is made from, and interacts directly with, nature.
With this residency I am creating ongoing, site-specific installations throughout the Royal Botanic Gardens, using the materials provides by the plants themselves. By utilizing what is available at any given time, these works explore and interpret the many cycles within cycles of plant life. There is the greater cycle of the life of a tree, the flow of seasons, the growth, the flowerings, the falling of seed, the decay, the growth. Ever changing light also interacts with the installations, illuminating them at different times of day and season. By being site-specific these works are also a reflection of the land & its history.
Ephemeral art works are appearing in the Gardens over the course of the year to surprise, intrigue, & engage visitors. Being temporary, these will come and go: some may stay for months, some may only last a day. The accompanying map is just a guide on your journey of discovery.
This residency culminates in a month long exhibition in the Palmhouse, followed by 2 months in Red Box Gallery, taking place in early 2008.
