LEA FERRIS | HOMAGE TO THE REEF

LEA FERRIS HOMAGE TO THE REEF 2020

The stories of corals are inscribed in the marbles. The marbles seen and touched in this show (as all marbles) are created initially by corals. The calcium carbonate exuded by the microscopic corals millions of years ago, has been heated and compressed by eons of earth processes to become marble. Every vein, every colour, every pattern tells the intimate and broad scale story of coral reefs and life on earth. The undersea world of coral reefs is more magical, wondrous, complex, and spectacular than our collective imaginations at their very hallucinogenic, kaleidoscopic best. It is a world of infinite varieties of forms; explosions of nowhere-else seen colours; endless diversities of patterns; incessant ever-changing interactions.

The pieces in this show are my tribute to corals - the true sculptors of the reef. They are glimpses of my experiences underwater, conveying my observations (diversity, complexity, weird forms, colours, and beauty) and my feelings (awe, humility, joy, gratefulness, wonder).

At the very same time, they contain a hint of death (for example in Sarco, sarcophyton became encased in a sarcophagus). This was not intended. But it reflects the state of reality now. For the first time ever, on our planet, we, me, you, us humans are causing and witnessing, knowingly, coral death at a rate and scale that threatens the destruction of this magical paradise. Scientists and observers (Charlie Veron, Terry Hughes and Sir David Attenborough are amongst my heroes) have been telling us for decades that this is happening. I have seen and touched a once living reef now covered in nothing but green algae.

So, the works in this show are also coral calls for help. I used to think of them as the canaries of the reef. But now I think of them as sirens - not in the strict Homeric sense of singing voices luring us to our deaths, but rather calling to us for help, to save them and, in doing so, ourselves.

Vivere, 2020, Marble (rosa francia, verde connemara, marquinia, rosa lia, arancione, rosa verona, giallo reale), 53 x 57 x 35 cm, $42,000

Small hopes, 2020, Marble (Statuario, Diasporo, Black Belgian), 20 x 20 x 16 cm, $10, 000 (left) Requiem, 2017, Marble (Rosa travertine, Pink Portugal, Yellow Sienna, Connemara, Portoro, Black Belgian), 45 x 42 x 38 cm, $38,000 (right)

La Divo, 2017, marble (Portoro, Ming Green, Yellow Sienna), 32 x 44 x 42 cm, $38,000 (left) Miracolo, 2019, Marble (Red French, Green Guatamala, Yellow Sienna, Portoro, Black Belgian), 30 x 43 x 42 cm, $38,000 (right)

Sarco, 2019, Sodalite (mineral), 44 x 65 x 8 cm, $36,000

La Vita Che Canta, 2016, Marble (Red French, Green Guatamala, Yellow Sienna, Portoro, Black Belgian), 29 x 28 x 23 cm, $24,000

Eve, 2012, Marble (Rosa Portugallo), 74 x 68 x 65 cm (left) La Famiglia, 2012, Marble (Verde Connemara), 36 x 45 x 37 cm, $32,000 (right)

Photographs by Stephen Oxenbury

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