By Renee Wood
The Memo’s exhibit by Kinglake artist Michelle Stewart expresses a deep connection and concern for the environment.
Consequence is part of the Burrinja Climate Change Biennale 2022 which aims to highlight significant issues around the urgency and impact of the climate crisis.
As a diploma of horticulture holder and landcare group member, Stewart has seen the affects of logging and other environmental destruction and uses her art to voice her concerns.
Stewart said living in Kinglake and always being surrounded by the bush has informed her work which tends to make comment on how the forest is being used as an economic resource.
One of the pieces in the exhibit is called ‘marking that passage of life and death’ which is a reflection on statistics for how many species have gone extinct since colonization.
It’s a beaded piece that’s filled with 232 beads with 100 frosted to mark the species that have been declared extinct.
“It is a way of being able to mark the issues that I find quite daunting, it gives me a way to be able to voice them,” Stewart said.
Her pieces also shine a light on how beautiful our natural assets are and how connected we can be with what surrounds us.
With glass as her medium, Stewart said it lures you in for a closer, deeper look.
“They need to get in closer to see that it is made of glass and then that makes them look closer at the pieces…So it’s a look at it deeper,” Stewart said.
Some of the pieces are wearable art which stems from Stewart’s jewellery making background.
“The small sculptural pieces are that scale that you could hold and that makes it a bit more personal, so it makes it human scale.
“It’s for us to be a part of or for us to hold or to wear or to be with.”
Small sculptures of the helmeted honeyeater and leadbeater’s possum also sit on top of a ream of paper.
“They’re critically endangered already and we’re still logging their habitat.
“It can be overwhelming and part of the reason that I make the artwork is to process it as well. So it’s a way of working through it for me as well and paying honour to the land and trying to to show people how beautiful it is, and how magical it is.”
In the exhibit there is an audio aspect where you can link up to a podcast with ABC Radio National that Stewart was part of to hear more about her thoughts on the environment.
Consequence by Michelle Stewart runs until Sunday 12 February 2023.
