Casuarinas’ sneaky, pine-like adaptations to salty, highly variable landscapes. Casuarinas line waterways across the Nations of (at least) the Southeastern edge of the continent. From what I know for sure, they stretch from Awabakal to Yuin Country, along rivers and up the backs of sand dunes. They form forests of soft needles and spiky cones,Continue reading “A Curious Convergence”
Tag Archives: art
Tree ferns
I have made a tiny spool scroll of the life cycle of a tree fern (Dicksonia Antarctica). These are amazing plants with a remarkable natural history. Ferns as a class of plant emerged on Earth a very long time ago (nearly 400 million years). Their life stages and structures pre-date the seed as an evolutionaryContinue reading “Tree ferns”
Kelp gardening
Caring for plants means a deeper engagement, observation and connection with the individual plants, their species and their community. Over the past two months, I have tried to propagate golden kelp (Ecklonia radiata) at a guerrilla gardening site in the Eastern Suburbs. I harvested pieces of kelp that had drifted shorewards after they had beenContinue reading “Kelp gardening”
Small beings, small objects and small acts
In the past month or so, I have been making a lot of small, textured objects. Most of these are a mixed medium of paper, wool, fabric, thread and wire in a corked test tube. One was a scroll of the life cycle of a striped marsh frog on an old wooden spool of domesticContinue reading “Small beings, small objects and small acts”
Playing with microscopes
I have a new toy and have been making some paper crafts with it. Recently I got a new microscopic camera that goes up to 19x zoom from Australian Entomological Supplies and I have been obsessed with the plants in my garden (not a new thing, but the microscope has made a new perspective onContinue reading “Playing with microscopes”
Timewalking with Naturalist Kitsch
Making soft sculptures to reimagine the ethical framework of naturalist collections A key idea of the Anthropocene Naturalist project is how to reinvent the extractive and colonialist practices of the naturalist tradition, while capturing its curiosity, attention to detail and connection to the more-than human. Collections have always been a part of the western scientificContinue reading “Timewalking with Naturalist Kitsch”
Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub
My first spool scroll as an artist book prototype As I enter my third year of writing my second book using foraged and hand crafted inks and collages, I am starting to experiment with different styles of drawing again. This time using old pencils, pen and paper. I am still adamant about my interrogation ofContinue reading “Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub”
Eav Brennan 