Creativity Cluster, the group of nine women artists that I facilitate, had expected to present our exhibition De-Construction/Re-Construction in May. Counteracting our disappointment in having to postpone it, a grant from the City of Melbourne Covid-19 Arts Fund enabled us to take the exhibition online. This provided a welcome psychological boost. We developed a group website and ran training sessions to improve our Instagram posts and stories.
The online exhibition was featured in the Victorian Seniors Festival Reimagined – a virtual version of the annual event. Thus, instead of only Melbourne locals seeing the exhibition, nearly 50 percent of our online viewers have been from interstate and overseas. Finally, the postponed ‘in real life’ exhibition went ahead in November.
River Studios, where I am an artist in residence, closed down during the second lockdown, which meant no interaction with fellow artists for more than three months. However, this led to my holding regular chats by Zoom with a German artist I had worked with when she lived in Melbourne and with colleagues in Laos where I have held two exhibitions.
Incube8r Gallery, where I sell my small wall sculptures and brooches, also closed its doors. Without access to my studio, I had time to do the administration and web posting required when the gallery set up an online shop. Amazingly, during the first two months online, my sales doubled.
With gyms closed, the daily hour of permitted outdoor exercise meant I walked and walked, exploring Melbourne’s back streets and laneways. As a result, my collection of interesting and unusual street trash has grown and grown.
Being flexible, staying optimistic, doing what I could, trying not to stress about the things I could not do, looking for opportunities: these all contributed to a year that has passed surprisingly quickly with unexpected positive results.
My response to the bushfires
People living in the bushfire-affected areas of Australia have not fared as well. Many are still mourning their losses and trying to rebuild their lives. With our summer about to start, fire season is again upon us.
I found that my artistic response has been triggered more by the enduring heartbreak of the bushfires than Covid. The destruction wrought by fire, not just this year but in previous years, is much grimmer, more devastating.
Legacy of Fire 1, 2, and 3 [photos 6, 7, and 8] address this loss. I created the first two in 2018, in response to visiting an area still recovering from the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009, which killed 173 people and destroyed 3500 buildings. My German friend Julia Zöllner worked jointly with me on Legacy of Fire 2. I completed Legacy of Fire 3 this year.