This exhibition includes my newly finished installation Bare Bones of the Cobboboonee.
Bare Bones of the Cobboboonee 2006 -2015 copyright Carmel Wallace 2015
This work began as an investigation into the inner life of our local native forest, the Cobboboonee. Mimicking the style of many a naturalist before me, I collected specimens for a work to be created as part of the Great South West Walk Art Project in 2006. However, to be properly seasoned the wood needed to be oiled and stored, so it is only now that I have it ready to show. Whittling away the bark became a meditative exercise. I felt rather like a surgeon, or a miner, as I cut back the bark to uncover the richness of the bare branches – the bones of the trees – beneath.
A short film of the work, including some footage of the Cobboboonee Forest here: https://vimeo.com/132408467
Bare Bones of the Cobboboonee 2006 -2015 copyright Carmel Wallace 2015