OPEN BORDERS | Arboretum
Around the southwest are many arboretums, pockets of exotic trees established for botanical and forestry research. We also try to protect our rich floral history, our natural arboretums of gondwanan relicts including the Red Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia or bilgie yutah bunnah). As one of our most globally recognised and widely grown eucalypts, it originates from the south coast region. Trees are scattered across the landscape growing in very small pockets of woodland, some as old as 1000 years.
'Antipodean Arboretum' celebrates these trees. Drawing with ink, following and exploring the tree shape or branch line is a contemplative act while the fragility and vulnerability of both paper and trees are connected. The piece is preserved in wax adding a visual depth of field like an old photograph, a snapshot georeferenced in time.