WHERE: The Creative Space Curl Curl, 105 Abbott Road, North Curl Curl
WHEN: 7-18 December 2022 (With artist talks at 11am on Saturday, 10 December.)
Michelle Ball and Lisa Atkins, the artists and fellow keen bush regenerators behind the exhibition Rewilding, met while living on Pittwater.
Their paintings and sculptures explore the meaning of rewilding and share the beauty of a disappearing environment.
Although the exhibition is centred around a dark subject – the destruction of native flora and fauna – it also conveys the artists’ joy of our extraordinary environment and their hope for the future of the Australian bush.
Michelle – a former creative director in the publishing industry – explains that ‘Rewilding is what bush regeneration is all about. Lisa and I have spent many hours removing the weeds that are overtaking the beautiful bush surrounding us in Pittwater. As we worked together, we chatted about our artistic practice. And the idea for Rewilding, the exhibition, was born.’
From the spotted pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) flying high in the canopy above, to the majestic soaring trunks of the eucalyptus (Corymbia maculata), Michelle has focused on documenting species that the Northern Beaches Council have listed as endangered.
In the delicately beautiful work pictured here, which is an oil on cotton, Michelle has placed a branch of the endangered spotted gum in an 18th century vase, while the tiny pardalotes, which are also under threat of extinction, sit on the gum.
In the canopy. Oil on cotton. Artist– Michelle Ball
Lisa’s focus is the flora surrounding her home, and the capacity of the native landscape for regrowth. She forages and recycles, and in the process, creates stunning sculptural objects that illuminate and celebrate nature’s natural cycles of regeneration. Two of Lisa’s creations are pictured here:
Basket 1 and Basket 2. Artist – Lisa Atkins