A new day for 'wildflowering'
Exhibition/s review by Sandra Conte
I sit in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, on Kabi Kabi country, as the wildflower season is about to burst forth, pondering the remarkable ‘wildflowering’ women we have had in our midst. Only days ago I stood at the bottom of a street in coastal Caloundra staring up to where I once visited wildflower pioneer Kathleen McArthur's beloved home ‘Midyim’. The artist had passed and as a regional gallery director and curator, I was working with her family to create an exhibition of her illustrations and ephemera around the protection she sought for the environment. That was last century, in the early 2000’s at the Caloundra Regional Art Gallery.
Of late, there appears to be a resurgence of interest in wildflowers, and the stories of those who have loved, promoted and protected them. Invited to open the first iteration of such an exhibition at the same gallery in 2018, it gladdened my heart to see the work of former academic and creative, Dr Susan Davis, who had organically gathered a group of committed bush flower artists. She continues to raise the bar on wildflower awareness by coming together with an increasing entourage to tread lightly on walks to discover, focus, workshop, talk, listen, learn and creatively document the wonder of wildflowers, individually and collaboratively.
Varying iterations of Dr Davis’ curated group exhibitions, with numerous rolling artists, sometimes up to a dozen at a time, have shown at Caloundra, Noosa, Gympie, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay regional galleries, also delivering catalogue publications and associated programming. The most recent happening, in 2022, a signature exhibition for the long awaited re-opening of the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery on Badtjala country, added exponentially to the integral, informed layer of art work with First Nations women from the region showcasing their wildflower wisdom.
Also brought into the fold at the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay exhibitions was Edith Rewa, a textile designer and illustrator who is besotted with Wallum; she is the botanical illustrator of the Holly Ringland The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart (4th Estate HarperCollins 2018) publication and the ‘Be Your Own Wildflower’ gift box of affirmation cards inspired by the book. At the Bundaberg exhibition opening, Edith dressed in her ‘Wallum Shimmer' pattern design which was also on display in 2D, reflecting how life imitates art. Edith describes the importance of the opportunities afforded by Dr Davis’ initiative with the ‘Wildflowering by Design’ exhibition and the steps in and culmination of the process:
Travelling up to the Fraser Coast over different flowering periods to visit the Wallum Coastal Heathlands to draw, learn and connect with other creative women was a truly sustaining part of my year. We had art workshops to share skills and knowledge, days walking and creating in the Wallum together, a wildflower camp at Poona Point and many small moments of shared nature wonder in between. These experiences came together into a group exhibition opening at Bundaberg and Hervey Bay Regional Galleries.1
Edith’s experience is a snapshot of the quality and diversity of the journey for numerous artists of various walks of life and age-range who produced the works displayed in the exhibitions at regional Queensland galleries to date. Each of the works take the viewer on a completely captivating but different path with no two exhibitions the same. Among all this are remarkable individual artists’ stories as to their appreciation of what wildflowering means. As such, it is impossible to capture the scope and variety of the work in the written word. Critical to the project is that it continues to tour to reflect not only the rich abundance of the wildflowers, but the lot of some, such as the Christmas bells which once populated the inland Caloundra plains and through building ‘development’ are now only clawing their way back or have remained resilient in certain parts, of the Queensland coastline and hinterland.
With these exhibitions Dr Davis has achieved a momentum, continuing to conceive and roll-out group activities of wildflower walks and workshops, such as a 2022 collaborative residency entitled ‘xPollinate’ with Man&Wah in the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens Ecology Centre, which extended invitations to the public for inclusion. Every project Dr Davis facilitates, elicits a further flag to highlight the nation’s need for awareness raising of Australia’s rich wildflower heritage, its documentation, preservation and protection.
As a curator and environmental advocate, I trust other galleries and funding bodies will see the beauty and stealth in respectively taking and touring this exhibition across the state and perhaps beyond to remote places and territories abounding in wildflowers; it is a means of continuing to gain traction in reaching the collective public conscience around the natural order provided by wildflowers to (what, at first glance, might appear to be) our wide, brown, battered land. Dr Davis’ focus, commitment and passion brings up-close, creative documentation to form crystal clear connections with Australia’s wild/flowering understory and the creatives who love them. With expanding support for her gentle arts advocacy, Dr Davis’ critical work is providing some assurance that there will never be a day where generations say, ‘once there were wildflowers’.
Sandra Conte is a curator, writer and arts consultant, Instagram @earth_emag
Of late, there appears to be a resurgence of interest in wildflowers, and the stories of those who have loved, promoted and protected them. Invited to open the first iteration of such an exhibition at the same gallery in 2018, it gladdened my heart to see the work of former academic and creative, Dr Susan Davis, who had organically gathered a group of committed bush flower artists. She continues to raise the bar on wildflower awareness by coming together with an increasing entourage to tread lightly on walks to discover, focus, workshop, talk, listen, learn and creatively document the wonder of wildflowers, individually and collaboratively.
Varying iterations of Dr Davis’ curated group exhibitions, with numerous rolling artists, sometimes up to a dozen at a time, have shown at Caloundra, Noosa, Gympie, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay regional galleries, also delivering catalogue publications and associated programming. The most recent happening, in 2022, a signature exhibition for the long awaited re-opening of the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery on Badtjala country, added exponentially to the integral, informed layer of art work with First Nations women from the region showcasing their wildflower wisdom.
Also brought into the fold at the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay exhibitions was Edith Rewa, a textile designer and illustrator who is besotted with Wallum; she is the botanical illustrator of the Holly Ringland The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart (4th Estate HarperCollins 2018) publication and the ‘Be Your Own Wildflower’ gift box of affirmation cards inspired by the book. At the Bundaberg exhibition opening, Edith dressed in her ‘Wallum Shimmer' pattern design which was also on display in 2D, reflecting how life imitates art. Edith describes the importance of the opportunities afforded by Dr Davis’ initiative with the ‘Wildflowering by Design’ exhibition and the steps in and culmination of the process:
Travelling up to the Fraser Coast over different flowering periods to visit the Wallum Coastal Heathlands to draw, learn and connect with other creative women was a truly sustaining part of my year. We had art workshops to share skills and knowledge, days walking and creating in the Wallum together, a wildflower camp at Poona Point and many small moments of shared nature wonder in between. These experiences came together into a group exhibition opening at Bundaberg and Hervey Bay Regional Galleries.1
Edith’s experience is a snapshot of the quality and diversity of the journey for numerous artists of various walks of life and age-range who produced the works displayed in the exhibitions at regional Queensland galleries to date. Each of the works take the viewer on a completely captivating but different path with no two exhibitions the same. Among all this are remarkable individual artists’ stories as to their appreciation of what wildflowering means. As such, it is impossible to capture the scope and variety of the work in the written word. Critical to the project is that it continues to tour to reflect not only the rich abundance of the wildflowers, but the lot of some, such as the Christmas bells which once populated the inland Caloundra plains and through building ‘development’ are now only clawing their way back or have remained resilient in certain parts, of the Queensland coastline and hinterland.
With these exhibitions Dr Davis has achieved a momentum, continuing to conceive and roll-out group activities of wildflower walks and workshops, such as a 2022 collaborative residency entitled ‘xPollinate’ with Man&Wah in the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens Ecology Centre, which extended invitations to the public for inclusion. Every project Dr Davis facilitates, elicits a further flag to highlight the nation’s need for awareness raising of Australia’s rich wildflower heritage, its documentation, preservation and protection.
As a curator and environmental advocate, I trust other galleries and funding bodies will see the beauty and stealth in respectively taking and touring this exhibition across the state and perhaps beyond to remote places and territories abounding in wildflowers; it is a means of continuing to gain traction in reaching the collective public conscience around the natural order provided by wildflowers to (what, at first glance, might appear to be) our wide, brown, battered land. Dr Davis’ focus, commitment and passion brings up-close, creative documentation to form crystal clear connections with Australia’s wild/flowering understory and the creatives who love them. With expanding support for her gentle arts advocacy, Dr Davis’ critical work is providing some assurance that there will never be a day where generations say, ‘once there were wildflowers’.
Sandra Conte is a curator, writer and arts consultant, Instagram @earth_emag
“I started wildflowering because I was inspired by the stories of ground-breaking women who were artists and became environmentalists because of their love of the landscapes and local wildflowers – they became ‘wild’ because of their love for the wild/flowers. I wanted to find out if these flowers still grew in the region and if so where? I started going on walks and learning bit by bit, flower by flower, place by place. Through artmaking, reading, writing and curating a series of art exhibitions I feel more connected to place and the lineage of custodians who have walked this land. To date I have worked with over 30 artists across six exhibitions and now we are taking the show on tour, but always grounded by a local element. We will begin with touring the exhibition within the state and then who knows? This all seems to have grown organically and is not stopping. Wildflowers represent resilience, hope, regeneration and future possibilities – life and the world in miniature – what’s not to love about that”.2 Dr Susan Davis
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1 Social media business chat, between Edith Rewa and Sandra Conte, 4 August 2022
2 Email exchange between Dr Susan Davis and Sandra Conte, 19 June 2023.
Image credits:
- Edith Rewa with her Wallum Shimmer design at the opening of ‘Wildflowering by Design’, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, photograph Sabrina Lauriston
- 'Wildflowering by Design' at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery featuring work by Nicole Jakins & Marni Stuart, photograph by Sue Davis
- Hervey Bay Regional Gallery installation photograph by Alistair Brightman
- Dr Susan Davis in the the Wallum with her signature wildflowering hat by Shazhats, photograph by Jackson Land
