In 2013 I spent a month in Finland working at Arteles Creative Centre undertaking a residency with the theme of Silence, Awareness, Existence. The time was filled with exploring; walking through the forests, around the lake and across the fields of surrounding farms. One of the highlights, apart from having focused time to work, was meeting other artists with shared fascinations. The conversations, critical feedback and the opportunities to gain insights into other people’s working processes were invaluable.
One of those artists was Jessica Brooke Anderson. Since saying goodbye in the winter dark of Finland we’ve stayed in touch and shared ideas, and recently had the opportunity to say hello again in the far warmer winter sun of central Australia (though it did rain almost the entire time we were there). Our mission was to spend time at the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the northern Flinders Ranges exploring the area, making work and studying the night skies. Following the trip to Arkaroola the second stage of our project has been to undertake a printmaking residency at Megalo Print Studio in Canberra.
We commenced our journey in Adelaide and drove north through lush, green farmland and into the semi-arid landscape of central South Australia. We were entranced by the shifting pastel subtleties of the waterlogged skies and distant hills appearing and disappearing beneath the clouds.
This watery-ness was to stay with us for the whole trip - our initial plan to view the starry night skies, thwarted by unseasonal wet.
Below are some images from the trip. In the next post I'll give some more detail about the work we commenced while there.
A learning experience for two dirt road novices. I quickly learned how to navigate floodways and Jessica was an excellent water-depth tester. We managed to make it to our destination with no damage other than a very, very muddy car. Once there the roads were completely closed for a week - so our timing was perfect.
Feral food at the Prairie Hotel, Parachilna
Taking a break on our road trip we stopped off at Parachilna and sampled some of their famous 'feral food' it was delicious!
Introduced species - fascinating forms
Between rainstorms our project proceeded as a series of walks - exploring the surroundings, reading about the history of the area and talking to the locals. A group of diligent walking-track builders also turned out to be very enthusiastic cactus hunters - this introduced species above is apparently a local scourge. They carefully inspected our photographs to check if the plants were already poisoned or if they would need to go hunt them down.
These grasses look like soft cushiony resting places, but are in fact are needle-sharp - and quite painful to brush against.
Ellis investigates...
Jessica surveying the surroundings
Ellis pondering the likelihood of leaving Arkaroola ... like ... ever..