Craft + Design Canberra, Ngunnawal (Canberra)

16 November - 16 December 2017

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Exhibition catalogue for New Terrain in an Old World

Rising high above Nipaluna (Hobart), Kunanyi’s magnetism is keenly felt. Only a twenty minute drive from the city centre, the summit of Kunanyi, otherwise known as Mount Wellington, is a popular tourist destination for the magnificent views of Nipaluna and the south-eastern coastline. The view to the west however, across the top of the mountain is unexpectedly sublime. Stretching for miles is a tree-less expanse of dolerite, shrubs and lichen that during the warmer months create carpets of copper, burgundy and green hues. In Winter this expanse is transformed by snow.

New Terrain in an Old World is developed in response to this ancient place where one can encounter a sense of deep time. In this body of work I depart momentarily from the paper folding methods that previously preoccupied my practice, and return to silversmithing and photography to focus on surface detail and an interplay between small and large scales. Small vessels echo landscapes and a long loop of insect wings reference the smallest butterfly, the Ptunarra Brown, a threatened species found only in Tasmania. The magnetism of kunanyi/Mount Wellington is portrayed in the smallest of details through a series of photographs of the summit’s dolerite surfaces that remind us of the fragile complexities of this ancient place.

Photos of kunanyi/Mount Wellington by Zoë Veness

Photos of exhibition work by Peter Whyte Photography