A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER

I have lived in the Central West of NSW for 20 years now and in the daily routine on a large property, I have become attuned to changes in the weather. However, I have a heightened state of anxiety that these can be ominous, signs that bigger shifts in climate are on the way. Weather becomes synonymous with mood in this series, so a sublime sunset in my mind can be worrying, an unseasonal snow fall, alarming.

Looking out from my studio I can see Cadia Gold Mine, the biggest gold mine in the southern hemisphere and not far beyond that, there is coal and gas mining country. Mining and Climate change weigh heavily on my mind.

During this 20 year period a large part of my creative practice has been coordinating art and environment projects. Currently I am fully engrossed in the 10th such project, this ongoing project is in Arnhem Land, Arnhembrand. Living on Healthy Country.

The paintings in A Change in the Weather arise from the moments in between those art and environment projects and my series’ about mining and climate change.

Mandy Martin September 2015