Turtle Swamp Easter Residency, May, 2018

For five days over Easter, we inhabited, once again, Turtle Swamp wetlands, where we discovered the remains of works from previous times.

Found butter muslin: Remains of last year's Turtle Swamp residency

Found sculptures. Muslin and casuarina sculptures by Leah King-Smith and Duncan King-Smith from last year's Turtle Swamp residency.

Sharon Jewell

Tricia Dobson

Sarsha Brisbane

Julie Menzies

Anna Heggie

For five days during the Easter holiday break we inhabited the south western region of Turtle Swamp. This is the Casuarina forest where Leah and Duncan King-Smith staged their ethereal muslin sculptures the previous year. Most of these pieces remained, but had weathered from the outside and where they were exposed to the elements, and from the inside, where their casuarina stuffing inflected them with rich coloured moulds and tannins. The threads of the muslin curtains had been pushed into thick and wriggling lines breaking the even weave, creating a poetic form of this simple fabric. It was mesmerising. The area is like a stage set, with inviting areas between slender trees, so that each worked within her own space, while being aware of the presence of another, just over there. At the end of the week we hosted a picnic amongst the art works and in the centre of the forest. Some found themselves drifting between the works and the promise of new creative gestures, visions holding the wanderer half way between nature and art and as we conversed on the sprawl of mats, new works came into being.