John Wolseley The life of inland waters – Durabudboi river (detail) 2015 – 18 watercolour, graphite and woodcut on paper
Essays on Earth Tales from the field: A talk by John Wolseley
Visit Bendigo Art Gallery for a performative talk by artist John Wolseley, presented in conjunction with a collaborative exhibition by John Wolseley, multidisciplinary artist Brodie Ellis and poet Paul Kane AM.
Learn about Wolseley’s working processes and the various ecosystems that inspire his artworks. Discover more about his travels across Australia and contemplate the distinct role landscapes have played in shaping his practice throughout the duration of his decades long career.
11am – 12pm Saturday 23 September
La Trobe Art Institute 121 View Street Bendigo
Members $10 | General public $15
Book tickets here
Above: John Wolseley The Language of Lizards (detail) 2007-2008 charcoal, graphite and watercolour on paper. Courtesy of Bendigo Art Gallery. Photography: Leon Schoots
Essays on Earth Exhibition – John Wolseley, Brodie Ellis and Paul Kane
Essays on Earth is a collaboration between multidisciplinary artist Brodie Ellis, painter and printmaker John Wolseley and poet Paul Kane, uniting the work of three leading artists of the Bendigo region.
Across three gallery spaces, Ellis and Wolseley’s focused observations of the natural world, expressed through photography, sculpture, painting and moving image, are arranged in dialogue with the elemental themes and poetic reflections of Kane’s recent series of ‘verse essays’, titled Earth, Air, Water, Fire (2022).
Ellis’ sculptural field studies and digitally hand-coloured experiments in botanical and mineral microscopy focus on local ecologies, magnifying the strange beauty of natural forms, including seed pods, and cross-sections of rocks and plants. In contrasting scale, Wolseley’s nature paintings and woodcut prints, populated with plants and animals, carbon traces and geological rubbings, capture the pulse of vibrant and sprawling ecosystems in diverse landscapes across Australia. Employing a combination of scientific processes and artistic exploration, each artist immerses themselves in the landscape, engaging directly with the features and materials that embody the energies and stories of their chosen sites.
At the heart of the exhibition is an expansive video installation inviting deep listening and reflection. Fusing poetry and image, Ellis’ experimental microscopy and macro photography of Wolseley’s paintings unfold across the gallery in a meditative flow, united by the resonant tones of Paul Kane reciting his elemental poem. Grounded in a deep ecological awareness, Essays on Earth conjures complex systems of nature and their interconnectedness with human experience, inspiring wonder and appreciation for the delicate beauty and mysteries of the natural world from the minuscule to the vast.
Essays on Earth
Bendigo Art Gallery
42 View Street Bendigo
9 September 2023 – 14 Jan 2024
L – R: John Wolseley, Brodie Ellis and Paul Kane
