Past Exhibition: Stories from the Archive

Monday, 05 April 2010 00:00

Wollombi artist Hadyn Wilson's exhibition Stories from the Archive: A Palaeobotanical explored his ongoing interest in the art historical past, and his deepening narrative engagement with the natural world.

The exhibition was officially opened by Tim Entwhistle, Director, Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney
on Saturday 6 February 2010. 

The Sunny South and Cynobacteria 2007

As artist, historian, scientist, environmentalist and curious onlooker Wilson teases out multiple layers of understanding and engagement with nature, particularly the plant life of the planet. These investigations, in both image and text, extend over several years and form the basis of his study towards the award of Ph.D. at the University of Newcastle.

The works shown in the exhibition, many of which had previously been part of three exhibitions at Brenda May Gallery in Sydney, reflected his changing interests and experiences, personal and artistic as well as academic influences and research.

Broadly and collectively this body of work explored relationships between past and present,the real and surreal, history and myth. It reflected influences as diverse as 17th Century Dutch flower painting, the landscapes of the Australian Impressionists, detailed notebooks of 19th century naturalists and explorers such as Banks and Darwin and botanical art. The results were often surreal - the familiar juxtaposed with the strange, figures at ease in alien landscapes, humans reduced to the scale of insects, plants so large they block the sky - all executed in passages of very fine painting.

The paintings, drawings and mixed media pieces were gathered from private and public collections across Australia to make this exhibition possible.

The Harvest of the Giant Horsetails of the Clubmoss Flora 2007	Lime-gatherers of the Cynobacteria Amoebae 2007
The Ceremony of Pentoxylon australica 2007	Harvesting of Leptopheum 2007
Gymnosperms 2009	Corystospemales 2009
The Fish of Talbragar Lake - Detail 2008	The Place Where You Live 2007