Hold me while you can – endangered species
Hold me while you can – endangered species 2020
Bull kelp, tea tree, river reed
Project Gallery,
Queensland College of Art,
Brisbane
Image: Thomas Oliver
As an object that is deeply ingrained in my historic and contemporary cultural identity, this kelp vessel holds metaphorical stories that become embedded with conscious decisions about caring for land and sea Country. There is an irony that as my ongoing Australian Indigenous culture is slowly being recognised for its resilience, the bull kelp forests of eastern Trowunna / Tasmania are facing extinction due to dramatic sea temperature increases.
Over and over I ask the question:
“Are we taking sufficient and appropriate actions to protect species that cannot speak for themselves?”