Artists in Residences
During October Jenni and Donna, both members of the Creative Practice Circle research group and Re-Create Collective, will have arts residencies on opposite sides of the world. Jenni will be in Ísafjörður Iceland, and Donna will be in Oatlands Tasmania. We will be approximately 5000 kilometres from the respective poles and over 17000 kilometres apart.
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Sagas and scenery
On the weekend I managed to find the library and they printed some black and white transparences for me as I experiment to see if I can indeed create any cyanotypes while I’m here. Since I’ve travelled to the Westfjords I’ve noticed the lack of tourists – hooray! Along with the immense mountains on either side of the water. One feels incredibly small and at the mercy of nature – no wonder Icelanders go on with their lives regardless of volcanos, changing weather patterns, and (occasionally) avalanches. On that last note – the other artist in the house, Ruth McDermott, …
The view of the troll’s seat
Yesterday it snowed all day and the view of the fjord is a bit different. I’m staring out the window right now though hoping the clouds will recede and I might get some constant sunlight. It didn’t occur to me when planning the works I was going to make that Iceland may not have sun-shiny days – a necessary ingredient for cyanotypes. I’m ready to experiment if the sun will stay out long enough. But I’m also prepared to change media and will think along the lines of the pieces that are currently showing in the Re-Create exhibition at the …
Pondering about human impact on the landscape
I’ve been asking myself how much European settlement of the area around Oatlands has impacted on the landscape. Was the land was totally forested and then cleared by white settlers?. J. Lycett. The Table Mountain from the end of Jericho Plains, Van Dieman’s Land, 1825. National Library of Australia https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135712140 Before settlement the land supported First Australians with plentiful game, fish and edible plants. The landscape and biodiversity would have been so different to what they were accustomed to. Not to mention that many convicts, soldiers and later settlers would have come from the tail end of a Georgian urban …
Second week in Iceland
I arrived at the end of September and thought it would be good to scoot around the island. So I joined a ring road tour which really did scoot around the island, but didn’t venture to the Westfjords where my residency is. So I’ve had a chance to see most of the tourist sites that are really gob-smacking regarding this incredible island of Iceland. I was helped to get a lift from Reykjavik to Isafjordur to the residency – amazing scenery. I will add pics when I work out how to. There is another Australian artist staying at ‘Engi’, the …
Artist Residencies on each side of the world as experienced by Jenni Munday and Donna Caffrey
The title of our shared blog is Poles Apart for a reason – Jenni is in the northern hemisphere in Iceland and I am in the southern hemisphere in Tasmania. Both of us are undertaking artist residencies. I am in Oatlands, Tasmania. It is a small town that calls itself a village. To some it may be a matter of semantics but Oatlands has a village feel to it. I have lived in small communities with a similar population and I would never have thought to call them villages. I wonder whether it is the physical environment? Or is it …
Images:
DANIEL JULIE from Paris, France – IMG2202/Tasmania Midlands/Oatlands Village/Callington WindMill from 1837 – CC BY 2.0
