Betsy & Burnie

(Betsy Island: 1826 – breeding approx 30,000 bunnies & Burnie’s medium strip Island: 2022 – many bunnies)

At the heart of this work is a tension between the cuteness of the bunnies and the dread of their infestation in the Tasmanian landscape, where the creatures, often regarded as innocent symbols of nature’s charm, become unsettling figures. They are both an expression of nature’s resilience and the landscapes vulnerability, a reminder that when we impose ourselves on the environment, the consequences are often unexpected and irreversible.

The work invites us to confront the discomforting reality that these cute creatures, thriving unchecked, symbolize a landscape disrupted by human action.

This painting does not offer answers, but instead asks whether we can reconcile the beauty of Tasmania’s natural world with the messiness of our control over it.

It questions whether we can nurture a natural landscape or reflect on the strange and sometimes tragic ways in which we shape it.