The Earth Speaks 2023

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The Earth Speaks exhibition attempts to respond to the changing conditions generated from the Black Summer Fires, the consequent flooding, El Nino's extreme rainfall and the impact of Covid.

Ros Lajoie's paintings, inspired by her regular visits to NSW's South Coast, depicts the devastation wreaked from bushfires and the subsequent regeneration. Ros also explores her time during Sydney's Covid lockdown, when inner city parklands, often taken for granted, became her necessary escape from confinement at home.

Through daily walks with eyes afresh, greenery became more vibrant and luscious.

Belinda Nolan, having lived through the Shoalhaven Black Summer Fires, explores the coastline as a place of refuge through her artworks. The mighty floods that followed, drew the fire's refuse deep into the belly of the ocean.

When Covid lockdowns hit soon after, in the quietude of human absence, Belinda observed nature's renewal. Then La Niña accelerated rainfall, drenching the ground, helping to reduce fears of another summer bushfire.

Although conditions may appear improved on the Eastern Coast, our recent climatic upheavals leave a foreboding message.

If we fail to tread lightly as we have done for eons, this hiatus may be upturned with a ferocity that has no equal. Our responsibility lies in preserving Mother Nature, so future generations can abide with her.