Entertainment
26 June, 2024
Environment inspires new Tablelands art exhibition
AN art exhibition showcasing pieces created in response to the Tablelands environment, including historical connections to the local area will open on 5 July.
Connected by family ties, Annette Tranter and her niece Hanna Wood have worked together on a collaborative response to the Tablelands environment “Haven – A Place to Nurture”.
They share the Tranter and Daley heritage – pioneers of the Southern Tablelands since the 1900s.
Working across paper, printmaking, ceramics and porcelain, the artworks celebrate stories from their shared history and their individual responses to memories of local landscapes.
Through this exhibition they invite the viewer to explore the idea of ‘haven’ and what it means to them.
“Haven, a Place to Nurture,” will be on display from 2 July to 10 August at the Tablelands Regional Gallery in Atherton.
Hanna’s artwork for this exhibition began from within the pages of her grandmother’s diaries.
“Reading her stories and thoughts reconnected me to my own memories of growing up on our family property at Millaa Millaa,” Hanna said.
“My roots run deep in this land - the red earth, the rocks and the mountains. I remember the endlessness of grass paddocks where we played as children and the boulders which became our ships and mythical creatures. Mount Bartle Frere, a sentinel, stood strong and reliable in the distance.”
Hanna works with monotype printmaking and collage, her artworks for this exhibition interweave personal memories with the stories from her grandmother’s diaries.
“I’ve explored many of her thoughts expressing her love of the creatures of dusk and early dawn and the magnolia tree in her beautiful garden,” she said.
Hanna said she took comfort from the idea of reconnecting with her grandmother through her writings.
“...but also the feeling of being embraced by the memories of ‘home’ – a space to be free, to physically connect with the earth (and mud), the potency of childhood imagination and play. This is my haven.”
For Annette, her life narrative has kept her moving in constant motion.
“My haven over these years has been pottery and ceramics. Working with clay, water and fire has been a place where I nurture my creativity. Juggling motherhood and my art practice I allow myself growth with each art piece I create.” Annette said.
Using high fired stoneware and porcelain clays, Annette’s sculptures and vessels in this exhibition provide a wonderful opportunity to rejoice in her personal Havens.
More recently working with 2D paper based art has allowed her to explore the concept of “The Haven”.
“Where the ocean meets the land is my favourite haven; a beach. Where the environment is undisturbed and holds its natural forest is a special haven for me; the rainforest. Where I can be mother nature’s helper and plant a garden, my personal haven, my garden.”
