As I gather the works made over these past several months to see what kind of shape they make together, what kind of voice they carry, I realise what an amazing year this has been.
I feel I am still in the middle of this residency, yet the new year looms marking a time when endings join up to new beginnings.
The research continues to fertilize new growth. I keep on dipping into the words and conversations, films and images accumulated over the duration of this very giving residency. There have been moments when I’ve felt overwhelmed and rudderless, my process descending into seeming chaos and disorder, but somehow the years have given me backbone; faith that every moment counts no matter how tangled the threads become.
The new works will be intermingled with the eclectic art collection that fills the domestic spaces of the house at Carrick Hill. Visitors will be invited to browse and find the works themselves, in their own time, in the flesh.
I am so curious to know how this will unfold; what this might unveil of the potential of living with art in every room. As I wander this house, I often imagine how this felt on a daily basis in this strange, yet very intimate, homely environment.
Over time, the works grew into shapes that I now find completely evocative of this year of quite personal research. When I’m in the midst a residency in a chronicled environment I can sometimes feel blinded by other peoples’ versions of history, yet here I find that many stories translate so directly into the dilemmas we are all facing in contemporary life. Namely that there is such a delicate balance between anthropomorphism and the natural world, a relationship that has always has been fragile and now the imbalance is profound.
As we come into January and February, 2023, more and more plans are coming to fruition.
The exhibition will be open to the public from March 1st, 2023. There will be artist talks where I’ll take you on a tour of the works around the house and we’ll get a talk in the flesh. There is an evening when you’ll hear from some vibrant South Australian artists who have devoted their practices to these issues of plant/human relationships.
Also, I am transforming the Wall Gallery, in the attic of the house, into an Assembly Room, a studio of sorts! Here you’ll find me, on occasion, with my hands on the work- making plants for some arrangements yet to be born.
I feel honoured that The Arrangements: assembling nature has been selected as an official Adelaide Festival 2023 visual arts event.
You can find more details on page 66 of the Adelaide Festival program guide and on the AF23 website
https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/the-arrangements-assembling-nature/
and the Carrick Hill website:
https://www.carrickhill.sa.gov.au/events/exhibitions/the-arrangements-assembling-nature
and my Instagram page
Catherine Truman Flood detail. 2022 Fallen eucalypt branches, thermoplastic, photoluminescence powder.