I’m back at the Richard Randall Art Studio in the beautiful Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens until Sunday(16th October) 10-4pm daily

I love minding exhibitions in this space. It is peaceful and full of light and gives me the space to think about art.

The central series of this exhibition are the Anthill Woven Vessels.  The vessels channel remembered forms from the landscape my childhood, and the technique of reusing fabric to sew something new reminds me of the women who raised me.  The colours of eco dyeing created with eucalpts match the colours of Central Western Qld, and,  of course, rust.  Rusty objects were fixtures in that landscape.  They pinned it down, and still do.

I always say my art is about memory, and nostalgia is a huge factor in memory.  This work is pure nostalgia for that landscape and the people who populated it.  All are moving into the realm of fable, so many of the physical connections having already snapped.

As you can probably tell from that last sentence I have been feeling adrift lately. And voiceless. Focusing on where and what I come from, has been very grounding. So why not build anthills on said ground? And why not add rusty farm yard objects to a piece of silk?