Not in my Lifetime
  • Bridal Veil
  • 2006
  • Galvanised wire, electrical wire, aluminium
  • 300cm x 1700cm x 10cm
  • Moores Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia. Private Collection.

Not in my Lifetime

Moores Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia

This group of sculptures is a continuation of my exploration of introduced plant species that are becoming naturalised in native bushlands and road verges. The work investigates the peculiar ways plants do this as well as the role of man in this process. The intrinsic beauty that attracts us to these flowers initially, when combined with their underlying toughness, has been central to their spread into native areas.

The sublime velvety flowers of Arum Lilies, the spears of intense colour of Watsonia, the lacy delicate foliage and attractive red berries of Bridal Creeper draw you in. The dispersal of seeds by birds, gives rise to new patches of these insidious plants.
The wire conveys the toughness and growth habits of these feral plants, its steely resilience establishing its stranglehold in the environment, twisting, tangling and weaving its way to further expand the patch. Underground tubers and corms link together to becoming large open structures, endlessly multiplying. Nets of knitted wire drape over and veil native plants.