Enduring Connections

Foraging between tide-marks has satisfied my curiosity since early childhood with the exhilarating discovery of the next unique artefact to add to my collection. Upon reflection I discovered a connection; this was an emotional response to a feeling of void. When one collects, one experiments with arranging, organizing, and presenting a part of the world which may serve to provide a safety zone, a place of refuge where fears are calmed and insecurity is managed.

Now in adult life, I collect with a similar passion to the early botanical explorers on their voyages to the South Seas. The botanical life of the shores and what lies beyond is my fascination. Seaweeds (part of the algae family) are incredibly diverse and essential to our existence on the planet from the microscopic phytoplankton to the macro species of giant kelp forests. The collaboration of art and science is a means for me to make this incredibly diverse marine plant species visible and to consider their economic value in future applications based on sustainability. As a young child I would ponder biting into slippery sea lettuce and squirting the briny contents of sea grapes into my mouth, oblivious to the capabilities of sea weed to potentially feed, power and clean up the environment with the application of new technologies.

Historically, the Wunderkammer / Cabinets of Curiosity evolved into museums, where preserved specimens in collections have provided a valuable resource for research. This body of work is a response to my recent experience at the Herbarium of the Botanic Gardens of South Australia exploring the sea weed archive of the HBS Womersley Collection; it also pays homage to the collectors of the eighteenth and nineteenth century several of those women, who have been invisible in the field of botany. An unexpected discovery I have learned about the notion of collecting; besides the excitement of the hunt is the social camaraderie that imbues when sharing one’s collection with others.