Bundanon Trust Residency, 2001/2003

On two occasions I've had incredibly uplifting and productive time at Bundanon, just inland from Nowra, South Coast of NSW.  Daily I walked the open grazing fields and forested areas leading down to the majestic Shoalhaven River, very aware of Arthur Boyd's footsteps from living and making important work there.

There was the majesty but also a sense of trouble; just prior to the first visit, I had sobering news of a body challenge and it was also just after the Sept 11, US World Trade Centre bombings. With an Army base just over the river, the sound of helicopters periodically shattered the silence. The ancient, shrill-squark of Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos overhead and the bark patterning of the Spotted Gum trees suddenly took on a dual resonance; emblematic of nature but also echoing something darker.

I began by standing in the river and photographing my feet, to literally anchor. Then, just as a mob of Black Cockatoos stopped me dead in my tracks, I discovered a pile of discarded, partly black-painted building wood. This became raw material for my first Contraption For the Spirit; four stacked box constructions placed and photographed in the river (two more were later made from found wood at other river sites - Yarra 2002 and Wimmera 2003). At times I occupied it. Rubbings were made of the Spotted Gums, then turned into stencils and used repetitively in large scale drawings - some incorporating cut and woven aspects. Looking back, perhaps the shimmer of the weave spoke of the river, and the breath. 

This is a small selection of the work made.