Image: Renata Buziak, Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) Gondwanan Family, 212 x 85cm, 2022. Available in a smaller size on paper.

“A Thread Through Time”

“A Thread Through Time” is a group exhibition that celebrates Polish Visual Arts in Australia and New Zealand. The exhibition will showcase a dynamic range of artists that draw inspiration directly from Polish culture.

Gondwanan Biochromes

During my current art residency, I focus my research on Gondwanan lineage plants that grow on Binna Burra land, situated in the World Heritage Rainforest of Australia, Woonoongoora / Lamington National Park. The two images in this exhibition present Rhodamnia maideniana and Nothofagus moorei, both Gondwanan family plants.

I am honoured to be the first Artist-in-Residence in the legacy of a prominent Queensland artist Vida Lahey. The residency is part of the Art. Nature. Science. Program formed to bring the ‘spirit of Binna Burra’ back after the devastating bushfires of 2019 that swept the region.

I create images by forming alliances between plants and photographic emulsions. I call these images ‘Biochromes’ because the natural occurrence of decomposition on the photographic materials results in an array of colourful pigmentation arranged in complex and detailed compositions, aided by nature’s own creative skill.

The chemical and biological reactions that take place during the process of decay are fundamental to my image making process. This art and science endeavour traces the activities of the microbes; reveals the complex process of decay while addressing its metamorphic power.