Terra Celestial: Artists-in-residence 2019 and Wayfaring, Exhibition essay

In the exhibitions Terra Celestial and Wayfaring, matter and memory are caught in a looping exchange of meaning. The objects and images reveal a tender and playful transformation of materials by artists exploring the world of the senses and imagination. The works gathered together hold traces of the travels and explorations of artists taking time to reflect on what it means for a body to be in place and in time. The Terra Celestial artists paused for a time whilst undertaking artist-residencies at the Gudgenby Ready-Cut cottage in Namadgi National Park in 2019. The 50th anniversary of the moon landing framed their contemplations and haunted their making. They used their precious seclusion to dream of the stars and to question and reconfigure the science and materials that achieved this extraordinary event. The Wayfaring artists are connected by their time in Tasmania where they began to explore their entanglement with matter and how it absorbs and releases meaning.