These works feature field recordings from Kanamaluka Country in northern Lutruwita/Tasmania, capturing the summer dusk, evening and dawn.
Among the she-oaks, the wind whispers. As the sun softens and begins to slip beneath the trees, an ambisonic microphone is nestled by the dam amongst the reeds, recording soft crickets, fluttering fairy wrens and watery splashes. In the early evening, microphones by the porch sit listening to the sounds of microbats chittering, flying swiftly out to dance in the clear sky beneath full moon. Leaves shift in the breeze and chimes glimmer, as the cool air moves through the branches. In the early dawn, a new chorus sings; each voice in harmony, weaving a sonic fabric where each thread intertwines into a comforting blanket of song.
The “Weaving” soundscape is a thank you to the cyclical hum of the forest, the rhythms found between nightfall and the new dawn. Upon first arriving to site, the inner world is crowded and busy. Layers of sound synthesise this experience through texture, repetition and the tension of arpeggiated melody. As more time is spent in stillness, the mind begins to settle and recalibrate, increasingly leaving space for new insight and for the weaving of past, present and imagined sound. Upon each iteration, the song is experienced anew as elements ebb and flow. “Woven” is a moment of reflection, listening to the sounds themselves as an invitation to appreciate the quiet details of site, and to recognise the gentler inner landscapes they inspire.
These soundscapes were completed as a part of the Gentle Enchantment Exhibition by Rowina Howard
“Making in response to the native bush surrounding the artist’s home, this collection of sculptures and photographs creates a space of soft welcome. Clad in naturally coloured fabrics, the cylindrical works become tree trunks – inanimate figures who share the gallery with visitors. Accompanying photographs situate the sculptures in the dry
sclerophyll forest they were made in.Creating work with second-hand materials, slow stitching grounds the maker. Boiling plants and fabrics together in a process that spans days, leaf tannins are transferred to fabric in unpredictable ways. The plant dyes replicate the cyclical decay and renewal of the ecological systems that have borne them.
The work represents an unfolding exploration of country, creating a visual metaphor for slow connection with Country. The artist invites a more considered way of treading softly within the world we inhabit daily, recognising the sublime within subtle shifts of light, air, moisture.
Pause. Look. Listen deeply.” – Rowiina Howard
