Insite; Stories of the South West Catalogue

This is a Bunbury Regional Art Galleries Project Curated by Olga Cironis

Curator’s Essay Insite - Stories of the South West is a very exciting project introduced by the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries (BRAG) and shaped by Sonya Dye, Director of BRAG. The blueprint was born from the idea that the South West region of WA has a unique arts community, with a signature of its own which is irrevocably influenced by the artists’ close connection to their surrounding landscape, the community and an undeniable link to the history of their region.

In the later part of 2011 Sonya invited me to come on board as a mentor and curator to work with artists from the region over a six-month period. The project’s aim was for each artist to develop and create two artworks that embody the distinctiveness of this South West signature as well as interpret the colourful history of their region.

Months later in 2012, after securing funding from the Regional Arts Fund administered by Country Arts WA, fourteen artists were selected from a number of applications. Each were to use a personal research process to develop two artworks which expressed their interpretation of a local story. This narrative could be a story passed on from generation to generation only by word of mouth, a documented story, a myth, a poem, a song or a story hidden by cultural taboos but retrieved from the darkness to be remembered again through the visual language of art. Artists were given full freedom to interpret these stories in the way that best resonated with them. Many chose one aspect of a story that caught their attention, and from that point created an artwork that spoke of the original story in a different way, giving it another facet to its meaning.

Artists were given a clear brief of the two works they would create. The first work was to be designed as an installation for a very different space, site-specific and most importantly ephemeral. The second work was to be conceived specifically for the internal spaces of BRAG in view of a group exhibition at the completion of the project.

The first installation work was pivotal for each artist’s development and questioning of their own practice. Working on site-specific installations in locations such as quarries, parks, cemeteries, private properties and urban streets had, until this project, previously been foreign territory for many of the 14 artists. The aim of this was to add a different dimension of thought to each of the artist’s studio practice.

The second work was an evolution of their installation piece, but this time created within a studio framework for the final exhibition: Insite - Stories of the

South West.

After months of hard work, planning, conversations, studio visits, get togethers, an abundant amount of emails, stimulating discussions and clocked up miles, this project has reached its completion and resolution. These artworks are the personal interpretations of stories that have cut deep, revealing a part of the artist’s personal and regional identity.

I would like to thank all fourteen artists involved in this significant South West project.

Their commitment and fresh approach to new and foreign territories of creative expression has been inspiring. Thank you to Eva Fernandez whose photographic work and site support has been invaluable. To Mel Lamana for her research and project management.

And finally, a special thank you to Sonya Dye, Director of BRAG, and the team at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries who’s forward thinking, support and determination to have strong and relevant contemporary representation of local artists has been inspiring.

It has been a pleasure working on this project and I hope it will be maintained into the future and continued. This is a project where the identity of a region can be interpreted, represented, explored and told through the visual language of art by those who live and experience it.

Olga Cironis Curator April 2013

Director’s Essay This project has its origins in a conversation I had with the Curator, Olga Cironis, about four years ago. Over coffee, I was telling Olga tales of the South West region, yarns like that of the Dead Water Wreck in Busselton and the experience of my ancestors during the colonial years. Her immediate response was that there was an exhibition in those stories.

The idea of the Stories project hung around for a couple of years. I agreed with Olga, it was definitely the basis for an interesting and engaging exhibition but exactly what form that would take was, at that time, difficult to visualise. The stories we had discussed were myths and legends along with family anecdotes that had no doubt been the subject of intergenerational Chinese whispers.

Surely a project based on historic stories of the region would require the absolutely veracity of the stories to be established?

More conversations ensued. It was decided that what was important about the stories was not necessarily their factual accuracy but instead the influence they have had on the development of the character of the South West, the manner in which they reflect the experience of living in the region and of the evolution of our communities. This opened up the project to include stories from diverse sources, historical narratives such as the story of Governor Stirling’s land grants in Bunbury and their impact on the development of Bunbury could sit comfortably alongside the handed down oral histories of the Gibson family and the mythology of the Nannup Tiger. The first plank of the framework for the Insite; Stories of the South West project had been found.

Exhibitions that explore historic stories have certainly been done before. In developing this project we needed to find a way to set it apart from similar past projects. It was important that this be a project that inspired and challenged artists, one that contributed to the development of their practice and ultimately offered innovative and engaging works to the viewing audience. Providing an opportunity to expand upon the usual practice of participating artists became an essential element of the project.

It was determined that this would be a two stage project. The first stage would see artists create ephemeral works in the public domain, on sites relevant to the story they had chosen to interpret. This would be a new experience for many of the artists involved. It would cause them to reconsider their usual practice, find ways to adapt it to new environments and consider viewer engagement from a different perspective. It would also prompt them to develop new skills and ways of working that would see them well positioned to take advantage of future opportunities in the realm of public art and hopefully see the work of more South West artists permanently installed in the built environment of the region.

This aspect of the project certainly opened up a range of options for public engagement, bringing these stories and these works to the attention of community members who may not otherwise chose to interact with the visual arts. It encouraged us to ask the public to contribute stories for interpretation. People from all over the region sent in stories and yarns to be considered by the artists. This further embedded the project in the community and ensured its relevance to the region. The community helped guide those ideas and histories that would define this project. On behalf of the Galleries, the curator and the artists, I extend my deep appreciation to all those who took the time to send in contributions to this project. It was an essential ingredient of its success.

The second stage of the project asked the artists to create a studio piece interpreting the same story. It was hoped that the experience of the making of the ephemeral works would influence the development of their usual studio practice and potential open new avenues of explorations for those artists. These studio pieces would be the centrepiece of the final exhibition, alongside documentation of the those initial ephemeral works. For audiences, the intention is to lead them to a new understanding of artistic processes, to be given tangible examples of artists adapting to different environments, materials and circumstances while exploring the same ideas and concepts.

Finally the total development of the project was complete. There was now a comprehensive framework that would structure and guide the project. The journey to here had taken two years as different ideas were considered and thrown out and sometimes retrieved and reworked. It took another twelve months to secure initial funding to realise the project and another year to identify the participating artists and actually deliver Insite; Stories of the South West. This project represents a long term commitment by the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries and the curator. We are justifiably proud of the final outcomes presented to you in this exhibition. Nothing good comes easily.

Curator Olga Cironis’ personal practice is dominated by the twin themes of memory and cultural identity. It made her the perfect person to curate this project, to guide the participating artists through the delicate process of interpreting the stories of others. Her vast experience in making work for the public domain, particularly ephemeral works, further enhance her value to the project. She was able to work one on one with the artists, resolving the artistic and practical challenges this project presented.

Fourteen artists from the region agreed to participate in this project. Their commitment to the process is to be admired and the results they have produced are outstanding.

Many have used this as an opportunity to push themselves and their practice. Some have engaged with completely new media and artforms. It has been a project characterised by artistic risk and courage. I believe that risk has paid off and all fourteen artists are to be commended for their bravery and willingness to embrace new challenges.

Ephemeral works were installed in a wide range of locations, from private property to roadside verges, from cemeteries to public reserves and parks. Some artists chose to invite the public to participate in the process of installing the work while others did so privately, creating the opportunity for unexpected encounters by the public. For a short time these works changed the landscape, giving us a new insight into our past and the

people who have gone before us.

Like the site specific works, the studio piece created for this show are varied. Some artists chose to reinterpret their initial ephemeral works, recreating them in a manner suitable for exhibition within the gallery space. Others embraced new media and imagery to make whole new works that were linked to the initial pieces by subject matter and sensibility rather than a common aesthetic.

The result is a diverse body of work and manages to remain connected. It is a body of work that is almost immediately identifiable as being South West in origin. While all the stories interpreted are of human experience, nearly every work engages with the environment of the region, in many cases bringing primary objects from that environment into the work. Many of the artists have chosen to interpret these stories for human endeavour through a prism of the challenges of living and thriving in the sometimes harsh environment of the South West. The fourteen artists have found a distinctly regional voice in these works that is fundamentally connected to place.

The final exhibition will only be on show at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries for seven weeks but it is hoped that this project will have a much more enduring impact on the region. The demographics of the region are rapidly changing. The rate of growth and number of new residents making the South West their home presents a risk that the history, heritage and traditional character of the place may be diluted and lost. Cultural identity will always grow and evolve but this project has created a visual reference point for the impact of historical events and people on the development of our contemporary sense of self. It has created a document that articulates the diversity of regional experience and records stories in a unique manner for posterity.

On behalf of the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries I would like to thank all those involved with this project. From the government departments and local government authorities who provided the necessary permissions for the ephemeral works to be installed to the private landowners who embraced the project and opened up their properties. Also, of course the staff of the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries and ECU intern Mel Lamanna whose enthusiasm for the project proved invaluable. Particular thanks are extended to the Regional Arts Fund administered by Country Arts WA that provided the investment necessary for this project to get off the ground.

My ultimate appreciation, however, is reserved for the creative people involved in the project, the artists, photographer Eva Fernandez and the curator. This project is a demonstration of their commitment to their practice and willingness to engage with new ideas. I have been overwhelmed by the support this project has received and by the exceptional artworks it has produced.

The final beneficiary of all of this is, or course, you the audience. Please enjoy Insite; Stories of the South West.

Sonya Dye Director April 2013

Contents Elaine Clocherty . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Julie Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sue Dennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jenni Doherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Katherine Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Catherine Higham . . . . . . . . . . .

Patricia Hines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yvonne Nietrzeba . . . . . . . . . . . .

Helena Sahm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Helen Seiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Monique Tippett . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marina Troitsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chris Williamson . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Michael Wise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Flower Garden – the Story of Georgiana Molloy Georgiana Molloy was one of the first migrants to settle in Augusta, arriving in 1830 with husband Captain John Molloy, the Bussells and William Turner. Upon encountering a foreign landscape their first instinct was to clear the land and attempt to recreate the British landscape. Georgiana’s own life was one of struggle and tragedy and she turned to nature for solace. A keen gardener she was alone (within the first settlers) in her pleasure and determination to grow flowers. “I am sitting on the verandah surrounded by my little flower garden of British, Cape and Australian flowers pouring fourth their odour (for the large white lily is now in bloom).” (1.)

Georgiana had mixed feelings about the new country noting the beauty of native species, such as the abundant purple creeper (hardenbergia comptoniana), but still found the bush ”…not so interesting as our own and after the novelty has passed soon cease to please”. (2.). Things changed with an unexpected package from Captain James Mangles, RN in 1837, containing “…a box of many wished for seeds, along with the request that she refill the box with seeds and specimens of her region and return them to him”. (3.).

While previously her ‘chief pleasure’ was her garden she now threw herself into collecting, pressing and mounting the abundant Augusta species. This hortus siccus (a collection of dried botanical specimens), encouraged Georgiana to finally embrace and really appreciate the landscape. “Indeed my dear sir, I have been more frequently from my home this year in making up your collection than in the whole of the nearly eight years we have lived in Augusta”. (4.). Georgiana stated, “I have no hesitation in declaring that, were I to accompany the box of seeds to England, I should have a very extensive conservatory or conservatories of no plants but from Augusta. I say this to inspire you with the ardour and interest with which the collection leaves me”. (5.).

Georgiana’s story so optimises that real story of the first immigrants. After moving to the alien landscape she continually tries to domesticate the landscape and recreate/connect with ‘home’. Through the ‘treasured seeds’ she introduced the arum lily, watsonia, freesias and cape gooseberries into the cape, two of which are now serious weed invaders threatening the local flora. She was also the first to document and therefore help name many local species and became a strong advocate for the Augusta Landscape.

References 1. Georgiana Molloy to her sister Elizabeth, 7/11/1832, WAA501 2. Georgiana Molloy to James Mangles, 25/1/1838, BL 479A/1-2 3. Holly Kerr Forsyth, Remembered Gardens pg. 57 4. Georgiana Molloy to James Mangles, 25/1/1838, BL 479A/1-2 5. Georgiana Molloy to James Mangles, 25/1/1838, BL 479A/1-2

‘River of Tears’ Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Elaine has two main streams to her practice. Firstly, Site Specific Environmental Art. This is where she enters into a dialogue with place and use materials that often go unnoticed to create symbols and spaces of contemplation and reconnection with nature. Influences can come from the forms, inhabitants and stories of the landscape and subtleties of the light, wind and colours of the surroundings. She has been involved in many outdoor exhibitions including winning the Andrea Stretton invitation at Sculpture By the Sea Cottesloe 2012, Sculpture by the Sea Bondi, Byron Bay Sculpture Biennial 2010, the Southern Forest Sculpture Trail Northcliffe, Sculpture on the Avon Northam , Piney Lakes Sculpture Walk Melville, and Floating Lands Queensland.

Elaine also has a studio based practice, creating smaller works and photographing them. These works allow for an intimate experience of the natural materials. She has exhibited these works at the Mandorla Art Prize Perth, Sculpture By the Sea Cottesloe, Kogodo Gallery Fremantle, Nannup Arts Festival, Mullalyup Gallery and Gallery B in Balingup WA. She has 14 years experience in this style of Environmental Art. With a BA (Fine Arts) from Curtin University including study and exhibitions in Glasgow, Scotland (Glasgow School of Art) and a BA Hons in Sustainable Development/Social Ecology from Murdoch University. Elaine is very passionate about this style of art and has facilitated hundreds of people in the creation of their own works through the co-ordination of Social Sculpture Environmental Art Trails.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My creative process is motivated by the need for a better relationship with nature. The works are ephemeral and can last from a few hours to a few months. I only use materials from nature and I like to use my hands to patiently lay all the pieces. I am influenced by the tendency in aboriginal art to take a ‘birds eye’ view of the landscape and the repetition of patterns. With a focus on nature’s ecological processes and the spiritual dimension of life, I hope to reconnect myself and the viewer with our ancient ecological self.

Georgiana’s story so optimises that real story of the first immigrants. After moving to the alien landscape she continually tries to domesticate the landscape and recreate/connect with ‘home’. Through the ‘treasured seeds’ she introduced the Arum Lily, Watsonia, Freesias and Cape Gooseberries into the cape, two of which are now serious weed invaders threatening the local flora. She then became the first to document and therefore help name many local species becoming a strong advocate for the Augusta Landscape.

We can all learn from Georgiana’s story and take the time and interest to better understand and appreciate this landscape. As well as be cautious about our actions and intentions and to have more humility that we are not historically from this land and then honour and listen to those who are.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Roelands Quarry For decades the hills around the farming community of Roelands echoed with the percussive boom of massive explosions emanating from the local quarry.

Today the quarry stands still and quiet, with an air of reverence, at the end of an overgrown track. It pays silent testament to the many men who toiled there, the few who died there, and to the stone that contributed to the prosperity of the South West we know today.

The Roelands Quarry was first opened in 1897 when Premier Sir John Forrest tipped the first load of rock. The enterprise was intended to deliver all the granite required to build the C.Y. O’Connor designed breakwater for the Bunbury Port.

The explosions at the quarry were apparently awe inspiring. The first huge blast occurred 18 April 1907. The Bunbury Herald described it as one of the two or three biggest explosions ever created by man, comparing it to the blowing up of Hell’s Gate at the entrance to New York Harbour. This momentous occasion attracted the attention of the community with crowds turning up to watch the explosion before being ferried by train down to the home of one of the contractors for a celebratory feast.

Considerable work was carried out to blow asunder between 80 000 and 90 000 tons of rock on July 26 1950 - it took four month just to drive the shafts and dig the tunnels into which the 18 000 pounds of explosives were placed. Detonation ripped the face of the cliff apart, causing boulders weighing as much as two thousand pounds to rain down.

Of course blowing up thousands of tons of rock is dangerous work and a number of men sadly lost their lives at the Roelands Quarry. Mr Albert Dance lost his life at the quarry in 1936. He was working the cliff face when he slipped and fell fifty feet to his death. In 1948, foreman William Burton was tragically killed when a two ton timber screen used for protecting cranes during blasting collapsed on top of him.

Even when the rock left the Quarry, the workers were not necessarily safe. A train ran from the blasting site to the wharf, carting the granite down the steep embankments of the area. In 1951 a train loaded with heavy stone wreaked havoc when it ran out of control on a downhill section of the track. For two miles the crew and the driver fought to bring the train to heel but failed. It jumped the rails and crash into a bank, killing driver William Wakeham at the scene.

The Quarry was a site of death, of hard labour, of mateship, of practical jokes and the odd hijinks. It had sat at the heart of the community and yet today few are aware of the profound impact it had on the community and the economy of the South West.

Sources

Bunbury Herald, Friday 19 April 1907, p.3 The West Australian, Wednesday 28 April 1948, p.2 The West Australian, Wednesday 14 February 1951, p.1

‘Blue Cross’

Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Julie Cox was born in Bunbury and grew up on the family farm in Roelands. Here she developed a passion for the environment and an understanding of space and simplicity.

Julie completed her Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) in 1998 at Edith Cowan University in Bunbury, majoring in sculpture. She has since exhibited work in group exhibitions in Margaret River and is a frequent exhibitor in the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries’ annual exhibition the South Western Times Survey.

Julie works full time in the area of forest health and management where she spends extensive time in the State Forests of the south west region. Her more recent works have been inspired by the many plants, seeds and grasses she encounters during her work.

Julie hopes to, one day, be able to practice art on a full time basis.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My work often contains a sense of fragility and delicacy. The materials that I choose are natural and familiar, and the processes of bundling, tying, wrapping and weaving are all simple and repetitive.

When I can, I enjoy using material found on the farm. Something that may be seen everyday and over-looked; I try to assemble these natural materials to highlight its beauty.

African Love Grass (Eragrostis curvula) is a noxious weed commonly found growing on disturbed sites. It is part of the landscape surrounding the Roelands quarry. The seed heads can be seen as softness, and I try to find gentle methods that will allow me to work into that softness without damaging the overall delicacy.

The cross is a strong symbol. It is used for two different purposes in my story - a cross to mark, and a cross to reflect and remember.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Gibson Family William Gibson was transported to Western Australia as a convict in 1852. Convicted for housebreaking after stealing silverware and linen from a parish rectory in 1851, William received a sentence of ten years. By 1859 William had received a conditional pardon and sent for his family to join him in Australia, but they did not come, choosing instead to continue their life in England. His wife had in fact begun referring to herself as a widow.

William had settled on a property near Donnybrook known as Crendon Downs. Not far down the road, near the present day site of Kirup, another former convict by the name of Benjamin Needs made his home with his family, including his young daughter Amelia. Men outnumbered women in the Western Australian colony and young women seeking to be married were rare.

The rejection by his wife must have left William lonely so when a group of passing Noongars made him aware of the young woman living down the road, William set out on his horse to find her. Family legend suggests William proposed almost immediately but Aemlia sent him away to wait one month for her answer. Apparently he waited only one week. When they were married in 1861, William was 37 and Amelia 17. He gave her a ring made from a melted down gold sovereign.

Bartering was the central form of currency in the colony so William was often away for days trading produce from the farm for other necessary staples for his family. This left Amelia alone and isolated on the farm, but this was not to last. On one trading trip, William encountered a man from one of the ships anchored in the Bunbury harbour who was most interested in his supply of eggs and butter. William made what must have been one of the most unique trades, bringing home for his young wife a monkey named Jinny. She now had companionship while he was away.

By all accounts, Amelia loved the monkey, but unfortunately Jinny’s mischievous nature would bring about her demise. She loved eggs and one day after racing up the washing line with an egg, she ignored William, refusing to come down when he called, and in a fit of pique he shot her. Amelia must have forgiven him because they went on to have two children while living at Crendon Downs, before moving to Eelup in 1865.

Amelia and William lived at Eelup for the next fifteen years, during that time they welcomed another seven children into their family. The next stage of their life saw the couple move to a new home in Clark Street. Amelia bore another four children while living in Clark Street, although sadly, at least two of her sons died as babies.

The Gibsons lived a long and apparently happy life together. After nearly thirty years living at Clark Street, they moved in with their youngest son Clarence at his home in Constitution Street. It was there they lived out their days. William died in 1915. At the time of his death he was the oldest man living in Bunbury, a title he held with one other. Amelia died in 1927, aged 83.

The story of Amelia and William would not have been noteworthy in their day. They were just a normal, hard working couple in the colony of Western Australia. Viewed through the prism of history, they are the foundation of a resilient pioneering family.

Source

The Gibson Family History complied by Mavis and Fred Littlefair

‘Amelia’s Needs’

‘Amelia’s Apron’

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Sue Dennis is a printmaker and book artist who has lived and worked in the South West for 25 years. She is a member of the South West Printmakers group and has exhibited her work regularly in both Perth and the South West since gaining a BA in Visual Art at Edith Cowan University, Bunbury.

With a commitment to encouraging art in the community, Sue has been involved in organising many local art exhibitions and running printmaking and bookbinding workshops throughout the South West. Sue also teaches printmaking part-time at the South West Institute of Technology in Bunbury and is currently a casual assistant to the curator of the City of Bunbury Art Collection.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT Although this is not the story of my family, it has taken me on a personal exploration of family issues such as separation, isolation, love, longing, and eventually finding togetherness. I felt especially for young Amelia Needs, who had joined her transported father at nine years old to make a new life in the colony, and then ending up as the matriarch of a large family group.

It was interesting to work with the lively account of William and Amelia Gibson’s life, collected by Gibson family descendants. From this I have drawn on fact and story to explore their lives and intricacies through the mediums of installation and book art.

It was my interest in the monkey anecdote that suggested the installation idea of playing out their lives on the clothesline. This ephemeral piece was installed on- site in Bunbury at the Community Garden, which is on the banks of the Preston River at Eelup; Gibson’s had their market garden in the area for many years. The monkey spirit manifested after I realised that it had also been transported and as such would have taken every opportunity to fulfill its own needs and desires.

The exhibition piece is my interpretation in diary form of Amelia’s thoughts and feelings about events surrounding the monkey episode, and her relationship with new husband William.

Thanks to all involved with the project for their support, advice and assistance.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Wellington Mills Fire of 1950 Between the 13th and 15th of April in 1950, the South West, Great Southern and parts of the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia were burning. It was reported that in and around Perth fire brigades were called out at the rate of three and four per hour to places such as Gosnells, Subiaco, Claremont and City Beach. Bushfires had broken out in Pemberton, Dwellingup, Pinjarra and all over the southern parts of the state. Out of all the fires, it was the inferno that raged in the Ferguson Valley that was the most destructive.

It is believed the Ferguson Valley fire started just west of Worsley. Fed by a strong north westerly wind, the fire raced through the Valley reaching the Ferguson River early in the afternoon of Thursday 13th April. Leaving a trail of devastation the fire destroyed phone lines and physically cut off the Valley from the nearby town of Dardanup. Urgent pleas for help went out and by Thursday evening there were 150 men from the surrounding area fighting to contain the blaze. By 9.30pm they thought they were winning the battle but a sudden shift in the wind saw the flames reignited to ferocious levels.

The Ferguson Church, one of the oldest in the state was destroyed as were two bridges. Many cattle and sheep succumbed to the fire and farmers suffered the loss of pastures, fences and stock feed. Thankfully there was no reported loss of human life, but that’s not to say there weren’t dreadful consequences for the people of the Valley. It was a terrifying ordeal for locals. The shifts in the wind caused residents to be evacuated with only a moment’s notice. One resident, Mrs Offer, reflected on having time to gather her baby and its bassinet before having to flee as the flames began surrounding her house. Nearly every home in the district was alight at some time.

Mr and Mrs Pugsley had just returned from their honeymoon only to lose their home and all its contents to the inferno. Joan and Syd Gardiner were to be married the week after the fires. Their new home had been completed and all their furniture and appliances installed, just waiting for them to move in as newlyweds. It all was lost.

Source; the West Australian, Saturday 15 April 1950, page 1 Artist Jenni Doherty is a resident of Wellington Mills in the Ferguson Valley.

Stories of the fire are still told in the area and the experiences of that day have had a deep effect on the community. It was the experience of Joan and Syd Gardiner that particularly inspired Jenni and their personal loss at a time that was supposed to be characterized by joy underpins her work.

‘I Do’

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Jenni Doherty is an artist with a studio practice working in Wellington Mills. The primary focus of her work is painting and textiles with a printmaking support.

She has had numerous solo exhibitions at Yallingup Galleries and LK Galleries in Perth, and participated in may group shows. Her interest is in the repetitive nature of our lives, so pattern plays a large part in her work. As a result Jenni’s works are often highly decorative and complex in nature. Her works reside in many private collections worldwide.

Jenni has been involved in the Bunbury Regional Galleries in a number of roles.

She has been an Artist in Residence, a member of the Board of Management, held a studio space in the building, and taught Studio Two classes. She was also a winner of the South Western Times Survey 2012.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT “ We love what we have learned to love.

We hate what we have learned to hate.

The task is to get beyond what we have learned and create something for ourselves” Unknown

The townsite of Wellington Mills was destroyed in April 1950. This story started out only as the story of the fire that destroyed a town. In searching for a personal element to the event it became a story about Love.

A young couple, due to be married the day after the destructive fires, lost their new home and all possessions within. Yet they still said “I Do” the following day.

Having been married for 34 years and with a daughter about to be married, it got me thinking about commitment, enduring love and what things are really needed to begin a life together.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

This story has no title This story comes from an oral tradition and is not meant to be read or written but rather told and heard.

It is about sitting together sharing, listening, watching, being.

This story has been handed down from generation to generation

we all pass through the yarragadee the underground water way in the Wardan region we all go there no matter where in the world we come from we pass through the water to be cleansed of this life, it is washed away, so we don’t remember this life, after we die. we travel the path through the white lime stone caves underground to be delivered to the ocean to the sea God Wardan that same ocean that we swim in of the South West coast off Gracetown

This is an interpretation, by Katherine Hall, of the story told to her by Wardandi elder Vilma Webb and later retold by her daughter, Vivian Webb-Brockman and granddaughter Mitchella Hutchins at the site of the installation.

Permission to publish this story has been approved by the Matriarch of the Wardan People

‘Dying to be With You’

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Like sketches in a diary, Katherine bases her work within the principles of drawing. She refers to her process as active listening, a personal silent practice of observation, integration and creation, which strengthens her relationship to the places in which she resides.

Given the community focus of the South West Stories project, Katherine chose to share this intimate space of listening. In doing so she provided an opportunity for people to give voice to the sometimes otherwise silent subject of death.

Helen Seiver, Peter Spence, Helen Taylor and Lea Trafford collaborated with Katherine Hall throughout the weekend of creating the land based art work. They also told their stories for the video production along with Brony Dennis and Fiona Hilary.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT death. ephemeral. create. build. nature. Wardandi. story. travel. path. tell. laugh. cry. sticks. white. black. loss. dead. owl. family. tree. sorrow. wish. tears. scar. taboo. silent. wander. ocean. spirit. cross. east. west. drown. sorrow. joy. shame. speak. whisper. gather. meet. Yarragadee. path. ground. feet. touch. never. breath. be. burying. coast. land. smoke. ash. lime. gate. dream, listen, words, silence.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

A Woman and the War When we think of war, we think of young men going into to battle. What we often need to be reminded of is the role women played during these conflicts. One such woman was Nancy Craig. Constance ‘Nancy’ Craig was in fact the daughter of General Birdwood. General Birdwood, affectionately known as Birdie, commanded the Australian troops during World War I and was one of the few English Generals to win the wholehearted respect and admiration of Australian soldiers.

Public service to war must have run in the family as Nancy, his eldest daughter, was a Red Cross nurse, serving at the No.1 Australian Auxillary Hospital in Harefield, England.

During the war, Nancy met Colin Craig. Colin, from a pastoral family in Western Australia, was an airman who flew for the Royal Flying Corp. The couple fell in love and married, which of course resulted in Nancy leaving her family to move across the world to small, relatively remote farming community in regional WA. They bought a property, Barooga, near Williams which became their home for twenty years.

How alien it all must have seemed to the young bride but instead of faltering she thrived. She joined the Country Women’s Association and became a well liked and respected member of her community. Nancy was sometimes called because of her medical background in emergencies, and when the local matron called for help, took over, looking after patients and washing dozens of sheets before returning home to her farm and family responsibilities.

During the Second World War, the CWA was committed to the war effort. They fundraised and saved, buying War Savings Certificates. They sewed and knitted, making warm clothes, socks and scarves to stave off the cold European winters. The cooked and baked, putting together care parcels for the men of the Australian armed forces. Nancy was one of these women but, together with Colin Craig, went even further, hosting British submariners while they were in port in Fremantle and taking care of Prisoners of War returned from Changi.

The support provided by the CWA extended beyond the troops. They also provided aid and assistance to the victims of the Battle of Britain, the great air battle of World War Two that saw tens of thousands of killed, maimed or left homeless in England. Indeed whole towns pulled together. The Williams district decided to send an ambulance to Britain in response to hardship occurring there. They achieved this through fund raising activities, a huge effort for such a small community In these community efforts it was the women who stood out. They did all this while working harder at home, taking on non-traditional jobs and roles to keep the country going while so many men were overseas fighting in the war. The resilience and commitment of these women was quite amazing.

Nancy Craig was the daughter of one of the most famous Generals of World War One and the wife of a celebrated airman, yet it was her personal contribution to Australian war efforts that helps define her. Perhaps her family connections heightened her sense of community responsibility, particularly during war time, but her actions were her own and they were typical of so many farming women across Australia. It is the contrast with the famous achievements of her father that bring home the simple, domestic nature of her contribution. This comparison far from trivialises her efforts, she is representative of thousands of women who made sacrifices and found ways in their day to day lives to make a difference.

‘75 Revolutions Per Minute’ Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Catherine Higham has a cross disciplinary practice, working with methods and materials that encompass environmental themes. The artist's experience as an artist and farmer living in the South West of Western Australia provide the source of her arts practice.

Higham is the recipient of the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries South West Showcase and will hold her fourth solo exhibition "Cumulous Evidence" at BRAG in October 2013. Higham has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas, and is currently studying a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Honours) at the University of Tasmania.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My story is based on Constance Craig (nee Birdwood), and her life at 'Boranning' near Williams. Constance, known locally as 'Nancy' was the daughter of General Sir William Birdwood, who was renowned for his training of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, under his command during their evacuation at Gallipoli.

Although considered common knowledge amongst some generations, I was unaware of the role Australian families played in sending food parcels to Britain during WW2 when supplies were cut off. In this work, grain, a seed and also a food source, symbolises life even within the carnage of war.

Nancy Craig individually played an important role in Williams during wartime.

Representative of women at this time, Nancy Craig was also a farmer and sent food parcels to the United Kingdom. The action of one woman, but also of many women, connects the small South West community in Williams to the theatre of war that took place during WW2.

It also speaks to the difficulties, courage and sense of connection of communities (at home). In no way were they unchallenged by the effects of war.

It is my hope that this work reaches across enemy lines and into the hearts and lives of those left behind, where ever they may be.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Murder of Jean Cicely Bell The death of young people is always tragic but none more so than this story of mistaken identity and murder. Mr and Mrs Bell and their two young daughters Jean and Antoinette, lived on an orchard at Marrinup, between Pinjarra and Dwellingup.

The Bell family operated a small family enterprise that was prosperous enough to support one employee, a Maltese immigrant known as Joe Cutay. He worked for the family for six months, until March 1914, when Mr Bell decided to let him go as there was no longer enough work to justify his employment.

After a period of travelling the state, the hardships of unemployment proved too difficult for Mr Cutay. While in the Murchison region he wrote of his plight to the Bell Family. He had no money and begged them not only to re-employ him, but also to pay his fare back to the nearby town of Pinjarra. Mr Bell agreed and in August 1914, just a few days after the declaration of the Great War, Joe Cutay was back at the farm. Mr Bell’s act of kindness was to prove tragic for the family.

Everything continued as usual at the Bell Family Orchard until in January 1915 the youngest daughter, Antoinette, reported to her mother that Joe Cutay had molested her. That night Mrs Bell told her husband of their daughter’s distress and Mr Bell resolved to send the worker away first thing in the morning. It is thought Joe Cutay eavesdropped on this conversation, provoking him to commit a terrible deed.

Unaware of the night’s events the eldest daughter Jean lay sleeping on the verandah to cope with the summer heat. Her father had a habit of lounging on her bed in the evenings to have a smoke before the family turned in for the night. It is possible that when Joe Cutay crept onto the verandah with an axe, he truly thought he was about to murder Robert Bell in his sleep, not poor young Jean.

Jean’s sister had awoken to the commotion but was sent back to bed by her mother. The next morning when Antoinette went to wake her sister her screams rang out, alerting the family to the tragedy that had taken place. A search began for Joe Cutay but he was nowhere to be found. Circumstances, along with evidence found in the form of the axe and Jean’s blood stained pinafore, left little doubt that he was the culprit.

The search went on for days until on 15 January 1915 Joe Cutay was caught. By now it was known that he was not Joe Cutay from Malta but was in fact Andrea Joseph Sacheri, an Italian who had a previous record for assault. Apparently, on being told he had killed Jean not Robert Bell, his response was, ‘My God! What I do that for?’

Sacheri had believed that Robert Bell deserved his wrath. He accused him of treating him badly, overworking and underfeeding him, but continued to express utter remorse for killing Jean. Perhaps this truly was a tragic case of mistaken identity, but it took the jury only ten minutes to find the accused guilty. Andrea Joseph Sacheri was hanged for the murder of Jean Cicely Bell.

Source – The Daily News, Saturday 23 February 1935, page 16.

‘For Jean Cecily’ (details)

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Passionate about printmaking, Patricia uses pattern and texture which at times is complicated and intense, and at others simple and reflective. Her images evolve from the environmental experiences and stimuli of the landscape surrounding her home; burnt trunks of the Marri, the raw energy of the ‘katabatic easterlies’, still evenings of the waxing gibbous moon or the first stars rising. She prints on canvas, timber and clear acrylic, embellishing and using mixed media. She loves the element of surprise when the print plate is lifted and the landscape of her art reveals itself. Most recent works have evolved from her ‘Graphics’ background and love of Typography by printing the word LANDSCAPE on timber pieces which can then be manipulated to create an artwork - and also using her love of colour to help make it ‘sing’. In recent years she has discovered the delight of working with clay and utilises this in both a two and three dimensional forms combining it with printed forms.

Patricia exhibited at Nyistor Studios in 2008 and at Gunyulgup Galleries in 2012. She is the recipient of numerous awards, this includes the Trek the Trail Award 2012 at Mundaring Arts Centre, the Regional Award at the Mandjar Art Awards 2013 and participating in Urban Couture Fashion Parade VIP Launch at the City of Joondalup 2013.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always had a fascination for history and those stories which connect us to others and to ‘place’. The story of the murder of Jean Cicely Bell in 1915 at the age of 11 and the trauma and angst which must have been felt by those affected by this tragedy both her family, the police and even the man responsible for the murder, Cutay resonated with me. I was able to locate the site of this event, (though the original home is no longer there) but even better I discovered her small grave with its marble headstone in the windswept gravel of the Pinjarra Cemetery.

I gained permission from her great nephew and the Shire of Murray to place my ephemeral work on her grave. I began to imagine Jean Cicely how she may have dressed, what clothes she would have worn or games she and her sister Antoinette may have played together on the family orchard. I chose to hand make paper using materials which may have been part of Jean’s home environment in the hills at Marrinup. Such as newsprint, shredded office paper from the Shire of Murray, plant materials as single Sided Bottlebrush, Marri Blossoms, tea leaves, blowfly grass, Heritage Rose petals, Hydrangea petals and iron rich red clay. Each pile of paper is wrapped loosely and tied with brown string. A small pile of gravel and dry leaves from her grave site sits on top of each pile. There are ‘words’ no longer to be seen within the paper except for those pieces which form her pillow next to her headstone. The paper wraps and comforts her.

For my gallery piece I used clay to make wall plaques to give the feeling of both the handmade paper and the earth on her grave. These were rolled by hand and impressed into the gravel, and detritus such as leaves and nuts. I also impressed clay into the headstone and the metal grave number - 117. I then used methods which would reveal the desired effect of both the earth and the paper. ‘The earth is my grave.’ Don McLean Her parents left the district soon after and moved to the wheat belt where they later had a further tragedy with the death of Jean’s sister in a riding accident. The Bell family members I spoke with about this story were not made aware of it until they were adults.

They presumed the reason for this was that ‘one never spoke of such events’ within their family. They said the family would have done the best they could to forget and would have simply ‘got on’ with their lives.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

Tilly’s Swamp Imagine being only three years old and lost for days in dense bushland and swamp. Imagine this happening in the days before telecommunications, organised police forces and helicopters. Such an ordeal took place in 1867 when a small group of children, intent on visiting their friends a few miles away, set off through swampland near Quinninup and became lost. Some would make it home that night, but for others it would be days before their families would know if they were alive or dead.

Edith, Tilly and Joe Adams lived on a small property known as Marylands, south of Busselton. In the company of a young girl whose mother worked in their household as a domestic, the three children made their way through the swamp and scrub within the lower reaches of the Quinninup Creek to visit their friends, the Forrest Family.

Their journey was uneventful and they spent the day happily playing with their friends until mid afternoon when they began the walk home. On the way back, just as they reached the swamp, Joe realised he had left his pocket knife behind and decide to go back to find it. The young girl accompanying them went with him while the two youngest girls, Tilly, aged three, and Edith, six years old, were told to stay put and wait.

After collecting the knife, Joe and his companion returned but there was no sign of Edith and Tilly. They searched and searched but unable to find the girls, they went home to raise the alarm. By now it was dusk. Edith and Tilly’s parents rushed to find them. Joined by members of the Forrest Family they searched by the light of lanterns but to no avail.

The next day a rider was dispatched to round up volunteers to continue the search from neighbouring farms and from the nearby Yelverton Mill, but still the girls were not found. By the second day the family must have been frantic as there was no sign of the missing sisters. On the third day Aboriginal trackers joined the search party with some success. Edith was found alive deep in the swamp however there was still no sign of Tilly.

The unrelenting search continued but day four produced nothing but frustration and disappointment. The search continued following the same pattern and with the fifth day drawing to a close one can only imagine the despair that must have been felt. A group of men ploughed on when finally the Aboriginal tracker they were searching with climbed a paperbark tree to survey the area. He had been spurred on by signs of fresh footprints and from his high vantage point caught sight of Tilly’s red shirt.

Undoubtedly dehydrated and exhausted, Tilly had finally been found. Within days she was back playing with her friends as though nothing had happened but now the swamp was known as Tilly’s Swamp in memory of her ordeal.

Source: Busselton Historical Society, Newsletter, December 2005

‘Allure’

Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Since graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) Honors, WAAPA, Perth, 2003, Yvonne has committed to a full time art practice. Including joint and group exhibitions on a regular basis, solo exhibition in Perth, and a cultural exchange exhibition in Bangkok.

She predominantly works with mixed media, in response to the chosen concept and site of presentation.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My chosen story for ‘South West Stories Project’, was The Tale of Tilly’s Swamp provided by the Busselton Historical Society.

In 1867, two small children Edith and Tilly Adams were lost in swamp bush at the lower end of Quininup creek. After three days of searching and with the aid of indigenous trackers, six-year-old Edith was found safe and well. A further two days passed before little Tilly, only three years old, was found safe, although dehydrated, surviving five days lost in swampland.

On reading The Tale of Tilly’s Swamp I questioned why two young girls of just six and three would part company. Reflecting on the novel Dot and the Kangaroo, Ethel Pedley, 1899, the story of a child lost in the bush with an ecological overtone. I chose to focus my attention on the bush itself as a place of enticement, the allure of which may have led to the girl’s separation.

In stage one, I attempted to retrieve the innocence of childhood vision combined with the desire of childhood pleasures to create a lure that will entice the viewer into a setting limited only by the vision of childish imagination, the Australian bush.

In stage two, I created a work that reflects the story as it was presented to me on a crisp white page, contained within the borders of memory by Tilly’s descendants. A Shadowy image of a real event that has dissolved into the history of the South West.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

Governor Stirling’s Land Grant Many new residents and visitors to Bunbury wonder why the main town site is crammed onto a peninsula. The original settlement, which is now known as the CBD, was surrounded on three sides by water. This small area could only expand to the south, but for many years was contained by barrier of a different kind.

Sir James Stirling was the first Governor of Western Australia. His life of public service commenced when he joined the navy at the age of twelve. The navy provided him with a diverse and successful career which saw him serve in the West Indies, the Americas and, later, in the Napoleonic Wars.

After a hiatus of a few years, by 1826 Stirling had been recalled to the Navy, charged with moving a badly located garrison from Melville Island on the northern Australian coast. He took this as an opportunity to investigate the Western Australian coast and returned home full of zeal for the establishment of a colony on the Swan River.

The then Lieutenant Governor James Stirling realised his ambition when in 1829 the Swan River colony was established under his administration. For his services, he received a land grant of 100 000 acres in the new colony. He rapidly developed a reputation for self-interest. Regularly changing the plots he claimed as his own as opportunities ebbed and flowed.

The newly established Swan River Colony was close to starving. Crops failed and good arable farm land was not as plentiful as first thought. The arrival of more settlers reinforced the need for new settlement sites, prompting explorations seeking land to support new communities. The townsite of Port Leschenault, as Bunbury was originally known, was first identified in March 1830. Stirling, a participant in the expedition, also took a land grant in the area.

Purportedly for the intention of establishing a summer residence, Stirling’s grant was known as Leschenault Location 26 and comprised 3940 acres. The northern boundary of the Stirling land grant was identical to the southern boundary of town site. It was marked on the south eastern corner with a stout pole, ten or twelve feet high.

This land grant caused numerous problems for the settlers who made their home in Bunbury. Hemmed in by the grant on one side and water on the remaining three, they were force to contend with swampy land, poor soil and limited opportunities for grazing. Reverend Wollaston noted on his rough tracing of the Bunbury town site in about 1842, ‘…and the government in its wisdom allowed all the good land at the

back to an immense extent to be monopolised by a single grant …how can this town rise and be supported?’

From its very inception, Bunbury battled with geography. The lie of the land combined with one man’s voracious appetite for property in the South West dictated the development of the town. It was not until the land grant was eventually broken up and sold off that Bunbury was able to grow, unimpeded into the community we know today.

Source - Historical account provided by Bernhard Bischoff

‘An Eligible Spot’

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Helena Sahm grew up in Sydney, the daughter of Australian ceramic sculptor Bernard Sahm and puppeteer/printmaker Pam Sahm. She graduated in 1980 with a dual Bachelor Visual Arts/Education from Alexander Mackie College, now the College of Fine Arts in Paddington, majoring in drawing and printmaking.

After travelling throughout Europe, North Africa and South East Asia she settled in Tamworth where she practiced and exhibited throughout regional NSW and Sydney. She also taught art part time at both secondary and tertiary levels and worked on projects and exhibitions for the Tamworth City Art Gallery. Helena returned to Sydney in 1994 and for the next 7 years was head of Visual Arts at Wenona. In 2000 she visited Western Australia and in 2002 moved to Bunbury.

During that year she was employed as Public Programmes Coordinator at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries and then as Acting Director. At the end of 2004 Helena was offered a position to be the inaugural Executive Manager for ArtGeo at the Shire of Busselton. She completed her contract there before commencing lecturing in 2008 at Edith Cowan University and then in 2009 at the South West Institute of Technology where she now coordinates the faculty of Art & Design. During this time Helena built up a body of knowledge on museum practices especially in conservation and restoration of paper arts forms. Helena has been active in organisations that promote and tour the visual arts in regional Australia sitting on the Board of Directors for IAKSA and as Chair of Art on the Move. She continues her dedication to arts development as a member of the City of Bunbury Art Collection committee.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My work has always incorporated drawing within the expressive form working as what was once described as a media centric approach. The idea more often dictates the media I choose but drawing always forms a large part of the image structure. I have also always gravitated towards paper and fibre as mediums because of their ability for manipulation into many forms thus lending themselves to both two and three dimensions. Although my early work could be abstract in nature I found that I often had ideas that could not be expressed within this approach and I gravitated towards working in a representational or symbolic manner. My recent work has revolved around the built environment of Bunbury partly because I found I needed to develop a connection with the city.

Being Sydney born and bred I have found it takes some time to feel a sense of belonging when I have relocated to smaller regional cities. Becoming intimate with the town through observing its houses has created an insight into its inhabitants and its history. The story of Governor Stirling’s expedition and founding of the Bunbury town site interested me because it forms part of this journey for me and represents the bigger question of ownership, sense of place, spiritual connection and survival within an environment. These of course are universal themes and still resonate for both indigenous peoples and immigrants alike no matter what time or place they have occurred in this planet’s human history.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

Cattle Chosen Pioneering families were the backbone of the South West region during the early years of settlement, with one of the most acclaimed being the Bussell family.

Four brothers John, Charles, Vernon and Alfred Bussell set sail from England on board the Warrior in 1829, bound for the Swan River Colony. By 1830 they had taken up land and established a homestead in Augusta. The harsh conditions and heavily forested landscape proved too difficult to sustain an existence, forcing them to move to a better plot twelve miles further up the Blackwood River a year later.

The Bussells found no luck in Augusta. Their crops failed, their livestock wandered off into the dense bushland and their house burnt down. Their mother and sister came to join them, bringing one thousand pounds worth of new supplies plus furniture and household goods from their home in England. It is easy to imagine the depths of their despair on learning that the coastal supply ship Cumberland, carrying their bounty from home, had been wrecked and all was lost.

After four years of misfortune the family decided to make a fresh start on the Vasse River where they had been awarded another land grant. They packed up their homestead for the move to the north, leaving behind a cow, Yulika, who remained at large after straying.

The party arrived in Vasse in April 1834, cutting a path from the beach to the river that would later become the main street of Busselton. For a time the various family members alternated between the homestead in Augusta and the new property in Vasse. Mrs Bussell, the mother of the Bussell brothers, visited the Vasse property in September 1834 and it was during this visit that the errant cow Yulika appeared from the bush. After her disappearance six months previous in Augusta she had walked the sixty miles overland, unguided, to arrive at the family home in Vasse.

Yulika’s arrival was remarkable enough to warrant an entry in the diary of Fanny Bussell. She wrote, ‘Was it not singular that our long truant Yulika should have walked into their farm at the Vasse on the very day that Mamma paid them her passing visit; It seemed as if she had waited to welcome her liege lady’.

It was also remarkable enough to provide one of the most famous homesteads of the South West with its name, ‘Cattle Chosen’. Artist Helen Seiver notes however, ‘The property was discovered by John Bussell. Not that the land was lost or in need of finding, it was already occupied and had been for thousands of years and, incidentally, had a perfectly good name already ‘Yundorup’.

‘Sticks in my Mind’

Photographs by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Since Graduation in 2000 Helen Seiver has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. She works with found objects exploring their unique quality of suggesting time, place and era. Her art practice includes sculpture, installation and painting, and her work is featured in both public and private collections.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT The Bussell family of Cattlechosen (just one among several other prominent Bussell homesteads in the South West), came to Western Australia in 1830.

They came to make a new life, a new start following the death of their father.

First settling in Augusta, and then to the now famous Cattlechosen, a property ‘discovered’ by John Bussell: curiously named for a long truant cow Yulika and her calf, who quite independently discovered the property appearing out of the bush one morning. The word ‘discovered’ is the foundation of this story; The land wasn’t lost or in need of finding, it was already occupied and had been for thousands of years. Cattlechosen incidentally had a perfectly good name already Yundorup. However, the signs of occupation weren’t visible to the Bussells (or the colonists in general) and although treating the Noongar occupants with benevolence, their (the Bussell family) attitude and choice of words were at best ethnocentric and paternalistic.

While I don't wish to dwell on the negatives of this time, without conscious consideration of the words of the past it is difficult to move to a more positive (Australian) future.

sticks in my mind, both the ephemeral and gallery installations, explore the power of words and our use of language. I believe positive language is fundamental to the vitality and holistic health of any community. Further, those individual words create impressions, images and expectations, having the ability to influence how we think and to transform lives and the world we live in.

The installations both use 184 words and peppermint tree branches striped of their bark. The words, taken from documents and diaries of the time, are representative of words used both during this era and some still today. The quantity represents the number of years since colonisation. Peppermint Tree wood was chosen as a material because of its use by both Wardandi women, as digging sticks, and also by the colonists as building material.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The North Dandalup Gold Rush Frenzied they followed Bright glistening seams Leaving burrows of sorrow The diggings of dreams The lure of gold, its rarity and beauty has held our imagination for thousands of years.

Its attainment and loss runs like a seam through all human history, the king of metals.

We seek it, either store it or wear it and some stake their futures on it. The discovery of gold in Australia was an integral part of our growth as a nation. We are one of many countries that have written ‘Gold Rush’ in their history books.

In 1869 near North Dandalup in the South West of Western Australia, a settler digging a hole for a fence post found traces of gold. Of course, it set off a flurry of activity, with diggers descending on the area. Minor traces were found, but the fever soon died.

Then, in March 1896, it was reported that gold had been found again in North Dandalup. The stories of riches being pulled from the ground in Kalgoorlie were enough to fire the passions of prospectors. Within days there were sixty men digging in the ground. Rumours of a mountain of gold soon brought 200 more, including investment companies with the money and equipment to dig deeper and around the clock. The echoes of blasting could be heard from the hills as men in three, eight-hour shifts sunk their shafts into the granite, shale, mica and quartz of the Darling Scarp.

By June 1896 North Dandalup was transformed. The town now consisted of a boarding house, two hotels, two general stores, a butcher, baker, blacksmith and a warden’s court. Plans were being drawn up and surveyors were marking out a town with a school and several churches. Eighty half acre blocks were surveyed and they sold at auction in one night, such was the interest in the area. There were rumours of a music hall and a skating rink.

It didn’t take long for the small operators searching for surface gold to realize their time was better spent elsewhere. By July, men were already counting their losses and heading back to the city or the fields of Kalgoorlie. Even after all this activity and excitement, only traces of gold had ever been found, no major discoveries at all to warrant such frenzy. It wasn’t long before even the investment syndicates with their dynamite and 24-hour work teams gave up, packed up and were gone.

By November, the fields and town were all but deserted. The buildings that had sprung up were dismantled. The last hotel burnt down in suspicious circumstances and before long the only signs that anything had occurred in the area were several deep holes and areas of disturbed ground. There was no lasting impact on the area; travellers passing through would have had no idea that there had been a gold rush only months earlier. It came and went, leaving nothing but holes; a transitory flurry of human endeavor in the eternal search for wealth.

By Peter Tippett Source – Murray and Mandurah; A Sequel History of the Old Murray District of WA, Ronald Richards, 1988

‘The Find’

Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Monique was born and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. She lives and works in Dwellingup, a small town in the jarrah forest 100 km southeast of Perth. She first moved to Dwellingup with her husband and two children in 2001 to attend the Australian School of Fine Wood, where she undertook a two-year diploma of art in Fine Furniture Design and Making. This intensive hands on course gave her the skills to design and construct timber objects and furniture to the highest of standards; skills she has put to use to create a unique style and body of artwork that has been warmly received.

After graduating from the ASFW in 2002 she opened the Dwellingup Gallery as a business venture and to provide an alternative retail forum for the artists of the Peel region. Two years later she found that the administrative obligations of the gallery were keeping her from nurturing her own arts practice. So she restructured the gallery with three other local artists and it became the Dwellingup Arts Collective, a small retail shop with an exhibition space and a house to accommodate artist residencies. This enterprise is still in operation.

In 2007 she exhibited a collection of her work in Singapore, which turned out to be a successful endeavor. In 2010 she began a Bachelor of Art at Curtin University. Her work has received many awards, including the inaugural Mandjar Regional Art Prize in 2005 and 2010, followed by the Mandjar Corporate Art Prize in 2012. Monique’s works can be found in many national and international collections. In the last three years she has extended her practice into the public art realm, with several completed projects visible in the South West of WA. Her most recent commission was for the refurbishment of Hale House in the WA parliament-building complex. This involved the creation of a 10x6m abstract work representing the Wandoo landscape. She is currently represented by Gunyulgup Galleries in Yallingup, where she will be holding her first solo exhibition in January 2014.

Monique and her husband have recently purchased a 20 acre property surrounded by forest. She is excited to begin producing future works as for her the southwest forest is a creative crucible of unlimited potential.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT My work is an exploration of my passion for the forest environment of the South West of WA. Living and working in the forest is a constant and rich source of inspiration for me. I am surrounded by its moods; exhilarated by its beauty; humbled by its wild danger. Timber is my canvas of choice; it is of the forest itself which serves to deepen my works’ relationship with the forest. It also has solidity, warmth and texture. I am trained as a fine furniture maker so the craftsmanship of my work is important to me.

I construct timber components to create a three dimensional “canvas”, with spaces and textures that imbue each piece with the elements of the forest that capture my imagination; perspective, colour, light and shadow. My work bridges the gap between painting and sculpture. Each piece is an image of the forest that I have nurtured in my psyche. Through the artistic process, they are distilled, abstracted and made real in my studio. They are metaphors for my personal forest experience.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

Group Settlement Early in the twentieth century, Western Australia set about identifying ways to increase its population and open up new areas to settlement and agriculture. With the White Australia policy firmly in place, any ideas and schemes that attracted British settlers were highly regarded. The Group Settlement Scheme gained prominence by the 1920s and with the difficulties associated with the high levels of unemployment experienced in post war Britain, proved to be a very successful strategy for securing new immigrants to Australia.

Families, predominately from England, came from overseas seeking a new life on the land. The Western Australian Government identified parcels of land in various locations throughout the South West. The settlers were organised into groups of between twelve and fourteen families and assigned plots of land to work.

Life on the group settlements was tough. The settlers were allocated land in the South West that was often isolated, heavily forested and difficult to clear. Many of the settlers had no farming experience and so failures were common. While the State shared the cost of immigration and establishing the farming, the financial situation of many group settlers was precarious at best. The below letter to the editor sums up the experience of many group settlers in the South West;

To the Editor.

Sir, The Lotteries Commission have announced a gift of ÂŁ2,500 towards providing clothing for group settlers. For the Commission's generosity the settlers will be deeply and sincerely grateful. However, that there should be the need-as indeed there is-for such a gift to men and women who have devoted 10 years of their life and labour on a State farming scheme is a crying scandal. It is no reflection on the generosity of the donors or on the gratitude of the settlers to say that it is not charity for which we ask, but a fair adjustment of the intolerable capital and interest burdens we carry in order that for the average man there may be a reasonable opportunity of becoming owner of his farm during his lifetime If, however, this final degradation serves to open the eyes of the public of Western Australia as to the truth of the Agricultural Bank's contention that these group settlement blocks are a living proposition and that its treatment of the settlers is just and fair and if, in addition, it serves as a warning to any foolish enough to be considering taking over a block under the present conditions, the commissioners will have wrought better than they know.

Yours, etc...

A GROUP SETTLER. Margaret River.

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38020282 Group settlement was a life of great hardship yet the South West owes a debt of gratitude to these intrepid pioneers. These settlers helped open up the region, forged roads through dense bushland and created viable farmland that sustained the region for decades to come.

‘Dress’ Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Since graduating with a BA (Visual Arts) from ECU in 2006, Marina has exhibited regularly in the South West and has been the recipient of several awards.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT Previously, in defining my sense of place, I have made extensive examination of my surroundings from the perspective of natural history. The South West Stories project has turned my attention to the human aspect of the European settlement of the rural community in which I reside. The struggle and hardship of making a new life in an unfamiliar environment and the enduring connections some of these families have been able to maintain present a multitude of rich and fascinating tales.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

The Nannup Tiger The story of the Nannup Tiger is a tale of belief and disbelief, of a community divided and most of all a story cloaked in mysterious secrets and half-truths.

Australia was once home to thylacinus cynocephalus, more commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger. Fossil discoveries reveal that these animals roamed all over Australia, and remains found in Margaret River prove without doubt that the Tasmanian Tiger once called the South West home.

The demise of the Thylacine on mainland Australia may have begun approximately 4000 years ago with the arrival of the Dingo, a similar sized predator with comparable prey.

By the time the first English colonies were established in the late 1700s, Thylacines were all but extinct on the Australian mainland, although a strong remnant population remained in Tasmania. The introduction of a bounty in 1830, diseases carried by domestic dogs and changes to their natural habitat dramatically reduced the Tiger population. The last Thylacine was captured in the wild in 1933. This last confirmed living specimen, commonly known as Benjamin, died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Ever since colonisation there have been sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger throughout the Australian mainland. In the South West region of Western Australia there have been multiple sightings of Thylacines reported in Nannup and surrounding areas. The ‘Nannup Tiger’ has entered into local folklore.

The Tiger divides the community of Nannup into believers and non-believers.

Whilst some are convinced that there is ample evidence that these notoriously shy creatures live amongst us, there are many who are hostile to the very notion of the Thylacines’ existence.

Over the years the debate has waxed and waned. New sightings spark fresh debate whilst practical jokes, (e.g. painting stripes on a freshly shorn sheep and releasing it into the paddocks to confound the visiting media) undermine the credibility of the story.

But with so many sightings, unusual stock losses and inexplicable tracks, is the story of the Nannup Tiger really so easy to dismiss? Could it be true? Are there still Thylacines out there?

‘Thylacinus Cynocephalus’ Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Chris Williamson was born in the UK and arrived in Australia in 1982. He is a Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Bannermaker and Community Artist who resides in Cundinup, South West of Western Australia.

Chris is represented in the City of Bunbury Permanent Collection as well as in Corporate and Private collections in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. He currently exhibits in Perth and throughout the South West region of WA. Some of his recent significant works were seen at :The Dunsborough Vanes 2008 The Nannup Totems 2009 Cow Parade Margaret River 2010 City of Bunbury - Victoria St. Streetscaping Banners 2003-13 Chris also sometimes makes and flies kites.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT The Nannup Tiger is a story which bridges fact and fiction. A creature which, depending on your point of view, is: a. extinct b. alive and well, living in the bush c. a figment of your fevered imagination after one too many in the front bar of the Nannup Hotel.

These works celebrate the mythic power of this wild carnivorous marsupial and its place in South West legend.

The ephemeral work captures the Tiger’s transient presence, floating wraith-like through the forest. It gives us permission to believe in a beast inhabiting our imaginations as much as it inhabits the bush beyond the farm.

The studio piece which, like the ephemeral work employs materials from the site, asks us to shed a quiet tear for the way this unique animal has been so cruelly treated. It has been hunted to near extinction, trapped and shot to provide pelts (at three pounds, eighteen shillings a piece) for gentlemen’s waistcoats. Now it is condemned to be only an embarrassing story for many skeptical locals.

Imprisoned by community ignorance and refusal to acknowledge its existence, the Tiger cries for its mate. This South West story is one of freedom versus captivity, life versus a lingering death.

Photographs by Eva Fernandez

Fear at the Beach Since 2011 there have been five fatal shark attacks in Western Australia. Three of these have occurred in the South West. Records have been kept of shark attacks in Australia since 1791 and in that time there has been an average of one fatal attack per year in the whole country.

WA experiencing five fatal attacks in a period of less than one year is evidence that something is changing. Putting that in context, the Taronga Conservation Society Australia notes 88 unprovoked shark attacks in the state since colonisation. Of those, 19 have been fatal. This means just over 25% of all known fatal shark attacks in Western Australian history occurred in a twelve month period from 2011 to 2012.

Fear of being attacked by a shark has begun to dominate the Western Australian psyche. It is starting change our attitudes and our behaviour. Various theories have been put forward from warming waters to an increase in shark numbers to an increase in the number of human beings. All remain theories, but the one thing we do know is that interaction between people and sharks is on the rise in the South West.

Artist and surfer Michael Wise recorded his own personal story of the response to the threat of shark attack in the South Western in September 2009.

This morning at approximately 8.30 am a group of surfers walked up from the beach to the car park looking white faced and fearful to report a large shark sighting. All surfers left the water after the sighting. They placed a small cardboard sign on the pathway fence which led to the beach stating: ‘Do not enter the water, at 8.15 this morning a 4-5 metre white pointer shark was seen moving in a northerly direction 80 metres from the surf line’. I arrived at the beach car park at 9.am to find it full of surfers standing around while there were perfect surf conditions in operation and not a soul in the water. I was quickly informed of the danger by a surfer and shown the cardboard sign.

While I was reading the sign an officer from DEC (Department of Environment and Conservation) who manage the beach approached me and others, explaining to us not to enter the water because of the shark sighting and that the beach was closed. He then went on to say it was their duty of care to close the beach and inform the public of the danger and if people ignored the warning they did it at their own risk. An unusual tension hung in the air as perfect surfing waves were peeling down the beach with no-one on them. Rumours drifted around the car park describing the size of the shark and its dorsal fin being over a metre in height.

Within 10 minutes of the officer closing the beach a surfer paddled out into the surf because the temptation of surfing good quality surf with no-one out was too hard to resist, though he had his wife standing on a large boulder with binoculars looking for sharks. This surfer opened the door for dozens of others to overcome their fears and they entered the surf on masse. I over heard a couple of surfers say nervously: “There is definitely safety in numbers”, which leads to a premise of hopefully someone else will be attacked by the shark and not them and they also surmised the shark was moving in a northerly direction and it would have been more dangerous further up the coast. A number of surfers I spoke to stayed on the beach and didn’t enter the water because the news of the sharks presence had created a feeling of foreboding and fear.

‘Portraits of Innocence’

Photograph by Olga Cironis

BIOGRAPHY Michael Wise is a research based artist who lives in Margaret River. His art practice is multi-disciplinary which engages the contemporary art processes of sculpture/installation, digital video and photography. His current research project investigates the invisible dangers that lie hidden between the binary opposites of beauty and malevolence within the landscape of the beach.

Michael is currently studying full time at Curtin University of Technology and has a Phd in progress.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT The ephemeral component of my story was an oral presentation and digital video which was projected on to the exterior walls of the St John’s Greek Chapel Prevelly Beach.

The content of the work examines the effect of the mythology of the shark in the South West of Australia. The five tragic deaths by shark bite during the past two years has generated a collective ‘fear’ of the shark; one of humanities greatest fears is to be killed, or worse, be consumed by one.

My creative response was to write about recent history and investigate our change in perception of the landscape after the shark deaths and explore the notion of whether we are in fear of the shark or are we in greater fear of its myth? The video examines the psychological after effects - and symbolically represents the collision between sharks and humans as portraits of innocence.

The prose refers to recent histories, altered perceptions and changes in human behaviour since the shark deaths.