Caitlin Lemon
Bede Polding College
TERRA FIRMA
Printmaking
Copper plate, ink, photographic slides
We can see the significance of life and the experiences we encounter through the land we stand on. Terra Firma uses various perspectives to explore the reality of the barren, rural landscape. In the triptych copper plate intaglio etchings I allude to hardships which we have experienced collectively through fires, droughts and floods. I represent the strength within the environment, and the need to be resilient, through abandoned homesteads and desolate, vast landscapes. Contemporary photographic slides represent travel through the landscape as if through an eagle’s eye, providing a visual lens for the audience as they travel across ‘terra firma’.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: John Wolseley, Angus Fisher, Joshua Yeldham.
Marker's Commentary
Terra Firma is an evocative portrayal of the land, of loss and of endurance. A range of visual motifs position the viewer in the rural landscape to witness an evolving struggle for survival through carefully curated vignettes that survey the demise and dislocation of farmers thwarted by climate change and natural disaster. The enduring motif of the eagle, emblematic of courage and renewal offers a powerful and pervading glimpse of hope and survival to temper the anguish alluded to in the narrative. The intricate linear detailing inscribed by the etching process translates an experience of place, bridging connections between the material and conceptual, whilst the subtle and restrained colour palette of soft umber hues symbolically codes a nostalgic reference to time. Terra Firma creates a haunting yet poignant tribute to overcoming adversity.