Artwork one’s statement:
Dear Eucalypt,
I have fond memories of disappearing down the garden path into the depths of your
soft rustles and gentle creaks from overhead. Much of this onomatopoeia brought a
stillness to my soul – of which I revisit in times of turbulence and I feel myself float up
through the sturdy trunks to the branches and the delicate leaves.
The small treasures you spread on the forest floor, creating a sensorial mat – to my
eyes, ears, and touch. Ridges and ripples, dimples and crinkles. I always bring my
favourites home and create shrines of remembrance.
You have given me an all-encompassing comfort both in the real and imagined, and for this I thank you.
–
Love Letter to the Eucalypt:
Dimensions variable
Eucalyptus dyed Chiffon and Calico and Embroidery Thread
Eucalyptus bark, blossoms, and nuts
2019
Artwork two’s statement:
Dear Eucalypt,
I feel the ancient swell within in the muted tones of your bark, and the renewed
spring of life in your blossoms that fill the air with a scent.
I can’t help but reflect on the strangeness of feeling this connection to you and
these forests – knowing this is not my own ancestorial country. I am but a visitor, I
am an invasive species, bringing ignorance and destruction in my wake. How does
one reverse these effects – these scars of the past, present, and future?
The system that wreaks havoc on knowledge, environments, and the people is
unforgivable, yet I bring my sorrow and acknowledgment of wrongdoing to the
table. I am sorry for what is going, being, and becoming.
–
Love Letter to the Eucalypt:
Dimensions variable
Eucalyptus dyed Chiffon and Calico and Embroidery Thread
Eucalyptus bark, blossoms, and nuts
2019
Artwork three’s statement:
Dear Eucalypt,
Like the sun setting each evening, there is a special joy in the precious moments that pass by, especially in your presence. The rising of the sun brings the new opportunities for change and growth – one that you take very seriously. Developing in the seasons and creating essential homes for all that live in forests.
I sit here, in the complexities of this nation – so young, but at the same time so very, very old. With the duplicity of the idea of “Lucky Country”, and how it has become so. Examining the histories within a single one of your lifetimes brings out the mysteries of how this world as we know it came to be – and how the now is the unprecedented, unexpected, and close to the unsalvageable.
When will the sun rise on us all? The golden glimmer of hope, kindness, and empathy, responding to these complexities and dualities. The rustle of common sense and connection through the breeze. Creating an undergrowth of change and responsibility. So we may collect trinkets, trinkets for our shrines – shrines of growth and conciliation.
–
Love Letter to the Eucalypt:
Dimensions variable
Eucalyptus dyed Chiffon and Calico and Embroidery Thread
Eucalyptus bark, blossoms, and nuts
2019
Curated by cas 