Coinciding with the season of Spring, Onespace presents ragi, a vibrant exhibition of new work by acclaimed mid-career artist Elisa Jane Carmichael.
Showing from 18 August – 2 September 2023, the exhibition comprises 95 cyanotypes that celebrate the seasonal change on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island).
“I love imagining our ancestors gathering wildflowers and enjoying the smells of the bush and the sounds of the birds in the change of seasons”, says Carmichael.
ragi, meaning ‘bush’ in Jandai language, is a series of sun-infused cyanotypes that reveal the shadow of wildflowers and talwalpin (cotton tree) threads. The textile installation captures the changes of plant life on the land and sands of Quandamooka ragi, blooming with the cycle of seasons and abundance.
“As we have come to expect of Carmichael, this new body of work opens and upends our expectations”, suggests catalogue essay writer Louise Martin-Chew. Further elaborating, “(Carmichael’s) contemporary embrace of the shadows and joys of the past and the strength of continuing traditions is joyously expressed.”
Elisa Jane Carmichael is also shortlisted for the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award in Telstra’s 2023 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. The winner of this category, and all other categories are announced on Friday, 11 August 2023 at the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory
Artist Talk & Opening Event:
Saturday 19 August at Onespace Gallery
Artist talk: 4-5pm | Opening event: 5-7pm
Image: Select Ragi, Installation. Photography: Louis Lim. Courtesy of the artist and Onespace.
