Correa Alba (White Correa)

Correa Alba (White Correa), is part of a long series of works which I have undertaken to focus on the minutiae of landscape, but also to exercise liberties which shift the focus from scientific documentation to a more poetic and nuanced depiction of a small section of earth and what it sustains. Employing a range of transparent oils in the manner of pre-Raphaelite painters, my aim is to draw close attention to the light and detail and understated beauty which can be witnessed while hiking in the Australian landscape. Australian native plants have been an overlooked subject in recent Australian art, dispatched previously to the endeavours of scientific expeditions. Correa Alba is a hardy coastal plant which thrives in Tasmania, and was named after Portuguese botanist, Jose Correia da Serra, revealing the many complexities which make up Australia’s multi-cultural history, and prompt us to reflect on the wisdom of the changes which have been made to the ‘native’ landscape since a European presence.