Re-present 2024

Re-present Entomyza cyanotis (Blue-faced Honeyeater), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Halcyon pyrrhopygia (Red-backed Kingfisher), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Stipiturus malachurus (Southern Emu-wren), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Porphyrio melanotus (Australasian Swamphen), Photography Lyndall Phelps
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Limosa lapponica (Bar-tailed Godwit) detail, Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present Numenius madagascariensis (Eastern Curlew) detail, Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present Accipiter novaehollandiae (Grey Goshawk), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Trichoglossus rubritorquis (Red-collared Lorikeet), Trichoglossus moluccanus (Rainbow Lorikeet), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Melopsittacus undulatus (Budgerigars), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Malurus leucopterus (White-winged Fairywrens), Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic
Re-present Calyptorhynchus banksii banksii (Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo), Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus (Black-necked Stork), Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni (Coxen's Fig-Parrot), Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present Ptilinopus regina (Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove), Image courtesy Lyndall Phelps
Re-present, Photography Jaka Adamic

A solo exhibition at Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina

Since 2020 I have been investigating nineteenth century Australian botany and ornithology, particularly the role played by women, in an amateur capacity, in the amassing and disseminating of collections. Re-present focused on two women who played an active role in producing the rich illustrations that accompanied early ornithological publications.

Elizabeth Gould (1804 – 1841) produced eighty-four artworks for her husband John Gould’s The Birds of Australia. Her illustrations are the inspiration for two series of works. The hand-made nets, which are meticulously fashioned from embroidery thread, have a duality to their function, which could be protection or entrapment. The size and colours of each net are determined by the species represented. In the second series, a plume of thread, depicting the colours of individual birds, flows from the eye of a taxidermy needle. The metal beads, which are tied to individual strands of thread, echo the shot used by John Gould and his collectors when hunting.

The first Australian produced bird publication was The Ornithology of Australia, by Silvester Diggles. In 1877 Diggles produced Companion to Gould’s Handbook. Those who purchased the publication could opt for a coloured plate version and Diggle’s niece, Rowena Birkett (1860 – 1915), is credited with being the chief colourist. Whilst viewing an online copy of Companion to Gould’s Handbook, provided by the Smithsonian Libraries, I was drawn to the foxed and stained blank pages adjacent to the bird illustrations. They became a pertinent metaphor for the loss of Rowena Birkett’s contribution to early Australian ornithology. My aim was to subtly re-present the species Birkett had hand-coloured, through piercing holes in grid formation into photocopies of these pages.

The fragility of the natural world and the ever-increasing risk of extinction is highlighted in the Birds at Risk series, which draws attention to bird species in the Ballina Shire that are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. The index cards are a record of each bird’s existence, cataloguing each species’ colours for future generations.