In November 2019, artist Bonnie Porter Greene and poet Nicole Smede set out on the first of a series of monthly excursions in the Shoalhaven, with the purpose of responding creatively through painting and poetry, to the place they call home.
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Featuring 12 complementary paintings and poems, '20x20x12: Sensing Place - Shoalhaven and Surrounds' celebrates a connection to Country and the diverse landscapes of a region.
Through this creative lens the reader is invited into vast and deep experiences, linking stories and traditional language with the essence of landscape, and taken on a journey to the accessible but little known parts of the Shoalhaven.
As the largest bushfires of their generation ravaged their home, the impact of the smoke, fear and devastation on the environment, communities and individuals, resulted in the works being emotive impressions of this time, conveying the tension of a place in limbo.
These paintings and poems have become embodiments of the community zeitgeist of the 19/20 Black Summer period; works that the public have a deep connection with.
The explorations took them to the outer regions of the Shoalhaven, as far south as Brooman, West to Nerriga and Burrier, North to Gerringong and Kangaroo Valley and East to the mangrove coastline and beaches.
They discovered places they had never visited before - places accessible to the public, but not necessarily on the tourist trail.
The natural beauty of the region is captured in their words and paint, revealing magnificent and diverse landscapes of mangroves teaming with life, ancient granite waterfalls, hidden rock ledges at the edge of tumbling oceans, and burnt and reviving bushland as far as the eye can see.
This beautiful publication is available for sale at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Wax Lyrical book shop, Berry and selected book shops across the Shoalhaven.
The artists would like to give sincere thanks to Shoalhaven Arts Board for their generosity in allocating funding to us for this project in 2019/2020. 20x20x12:Sensing Place - Shoalhaven and Surrounds MEDIA RELEASE August 2021 End
About Bonnie
Bonnie is a visual artist and creative problem solver with an arts practise spanning more than 20 years. She sees beauty in decay, and is a lover of the landscape - both built and natural.
Drawn to found typography, urban decay as well as forgotten or unnoticed places, a lover of colour, ghost signs, handcrafted & wonky things, Bonnie's work is informed by all of these elements.
Predominantly a painter - but always involved in an array of creative projects, from collaborations with poets, small business owners, community groups, pre-schools & photographers - there's always a large element of connection and concern for the environment in her intuitive gestural mark, and she rarely fails to conjure a creative response to the landscape or events that have impacted significantly upon her.
Bonnie's work can be found in private collections across Australia, the US & Hong Kong, in and on commercial buildings - and if you look hard enough, on the street in Austria, Indonesia and Australia. https://bonniegreene.com
About Nicole
Nicole Smede is a multi-disciplinary artist of Worimi and European descent, living and creating on Wodi Wodi Country.
Proud of her heritage, she works through language to reconnect to ancestry and culture. A classically trained Mezzo Soprano, she ran away from classical music early on to pursue wider artistic interests.
Now, Nicole uses voice, song, sound and poetry to explore ideas around landscape and connectedness, making sense of her place in the world, reclaiming and reconnecting to ancestry.
Nicole's voice has been heard globally on award-winning film scores, and her work has been broadcast on national and international radio and acquired in collections.
Nicole's poetry has been featured in visual and sound pieces, exhibitions, publications and anthologies including Australian Poetry Journal, Mascara Literary review, Never Heard of Them, Baby Teeth Journal (2019), Guwayu: for all times, Magabala Books (2020), What we Carry, Recent Work Press (2021) and 20x20x12 Sensing Place, Manta Publishing (2021).
