Zoe Hamra
St Scholastica's College Glebe Point
THE NATURE OF NATURE
Drawing
Eco-dyed paper, pencil, thread, fabric
My body of work is an intuitive and personal exploration of the Australian natural landscape. The complex character of this environment is represented in the layers of rich and varying shapes, tones and textures in the work. Eco-dying is used to express this foundationally, as locally-found organic material imbues the paper with a distinctive Australian colour palette and unique, natural abstractions. Stitching and drawing similarly represent the landscape’s complexity in their integration into the papers; they express the detailed, textured intricacies which supplement the larger shape and colour of our beautiful, Australian ecosystem.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: John Wolseley, Imants Tillers, Janet Laurence, Fred Williams.
Marker's Commentary
This sustained series of twenty small scale mixed-media representations explore ideas of the natural Australian landscape. Each work in Nature of Nature investigates the beauty and rich textures, colours and mark making of the innate environment through forms of eco-dying, stitching, drawing and text. The macro and micro imagery of the land, flora and fauna are consistently represented through the use of sepia dye, stains, textures and natural forms. The series demonstrates synergy between the application of materials and the potential in the representation of natural forms. The curatorial practice evidenced invites a further reading of the work presented in this sustained series of artworks. This highly resolved body of work demonstrates knowingness, restraint, cohesiveness and confidence.