I created this piece to play with the concept of an animal relationship in the natural world. I generally paint and draw from a place of trying to understand something from an entirely non-human existence. For these sugar gliders the environment and plants they encounter in their day-to-day are possibly as much a part of their understanding of life as our reflection is a part of ours. I wanted to hybridise the plant and animal components to truly represent beings that rely and co-exist with their surroundings, something humans struggle to do. the banksias present as the bushy tails on the gliders and the thought of their feeding habits and relying on each other to survive comes into play. My surreal hybrid 'Flauna' creations often centre around ideas of connections and cycles in nature and this piece played with ideas of co-dependency and adaptation within the eco-system.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I am held captive by encounters I have with animal and plant subjects in the natural landscape of my home, Tasmania. I feel a deep longing to capture the precise magic of a moment seen and felt. I am lovingly enslaved to the details that are both visible and imagined/felt within these encounters. Forming relationships in moments is important to me and my practice as I dwell on movements and encounters, my mind wanders through surreal spaces and leaves me desperate to relive the experience. I become lost to this need to process the moment and art has become a fluid space that allows me to express the languages that portray my thinking and settle the connections between the fantasy, bewilderment and realism within these experiences. I hope to reflect through my art the deep connection I feel as my being is struck with each encounter.