My work has been delivered to my next exhibition venue, Gatakers Artspace at 311 Kent Street, Maryborough where it will be installed this week. The opening night is this coming Friday, March 3 at 6pm. My friend and fellow toastmaster, Audrey Plate has agreed to do the opening speech. The exhibition, entitled Mysteries of the Burning Bush, deals with the cycle of fire and regeneration in the Australian bush, and also alludes to the biblical burning bush of Moses in the Old Testament.
A signature work is the Menorah Column, detail pictured below.
The Menorah Column displays the theme motif of this exhibition, the Burning Bush. The design of the 7-candle menorah is meant to resemble the Old Testament burning bush, from which God called Moses to become deliverer of Israel.
In this exhibition, the menorah motif relates to the use of fire in managing the Australian landscape. Here, the menorah/flaming bush motif represents the need for a new covenant with the Australian Country, in which we recognise the wisdom of the traditional custodians in their use of fire to manage regeneration and growth.
Other works include The Good Banksia Women, (in contrast to May Gibbs’ bad Banksia men) who use the fire’s force to expel their seeds and enable regeneration after fire.
The name given to the type of coastal ecosystem in which the Banksia Aemula is predominant comes from the Butchulla people’s name for this plant, wallum.
0 comments on “Mysteries of the Burning Bush”