The Paths. The Women.

  

The artwork The Paths. The Women. creates the framework botanical culture as means of environmental conservation.

RB

This project sits within the fields of ecology, conservation, and design. 

Wandersee & Schussler (1999) suggest that plant blindness is our inability to see unfamiliar plants. Dr Sue Davis (2020 p. 73) who supports the creation of botanical culture to address the nature/culture duality. Artist and conservationist Kathleen McArthur (1989) sought to use artefacts of botanical culture to engage a public pedagogy (Giroux, 2000). 

Emerging from Stuart’s PhD research asking: How can botanical observation be used as an ecofeminist act of ecological activism?

RC

A portion of ongoing research, The Paths. The Women is a printed fabric that hangs from the ceiling of the gallery, resting on the floor. The pattern printed onto the surface references two paths named in honour of two wildflower conservationists, Kathleen McArthur and Vera Scarth-Johnson. Echoing Stuart’s commercial patterning practice, the pattern depicts endemic plants of the Sunshine and Fraser Coast regions.

The artwork, using the cultural artefact of patterning (Davis, 2020 p. 73) discusses the relationship between wildlife reserves and the people who worked to protect them, whilst questioning the colonialist approach of this practice. 

RS

The Paths. The Women was developed in response to an invitation to show in the exhibition Wildflowering by Design based on the quality of the artists practice and ability to deliver the message of the exhibition. The exhibition is a contemporary response to the connection between women, art and wildflower walks. The was artwork accepted for exhibition by the curator, Dr Sue Davis and chosen as the hero image for the exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Bundaberg Regional Gallery publicly viewable for 2.5 months and received 3835 visits and the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery for just over 1 month and received 1000-1200 visits.