Bittersweet

I am not sure if the general public can stand to picture future environmental prospects. I can. As a child in the 1960’s, our family toured much of Australia on caravan holidays. I was fortunate to see many different settings that had a varied climate from my home, here in South Australia. We crossed snow covered mountains, tropical hinterlands as well as expanses of arid inland plains. The coffee table books of the same time also displayed such discoveries, and I look back with fondness where there was evidence of the natural world having a sort of confident overview on our human presence. As a very young child, I would leap precariously over ‘wild flowers’, thinking they would be akin to wild animals. I could visit panoramic views where not even a fence was to be seen. Native animals could be seen in the torch light at night. Endless forests of eucalypts carried forth a strong perfume. In my lifetime there have been radical changes, though, with the mood of the earth languishing in the face of our choices. In this exhibition, I have collaged images from those old coffee table books as a starting point of inspiration, to create scenes of an imagined future. The profound connection to Australia has never left me since my earliest years, and these resultant paintings are a small gesture to share a consideration to prioritize our earth first.

ACE

Adaption, Community, Environment Research Group

School of Social Sciences

Department of Geography, Environment & Population

University of Adelaide

August 15th 2019, Napier Building, 3-6pm

After the Storm, 2019, acrylic on board, 45 x 60 cm