Not far from from the charred silence where the iconic Sugar Pines Plantation once stood in the Snowy Valleys NSW, is the Pilot Hill Arboretum. It is a place every bit as grand, and it survived the flames.

For 50 days the Arboretum, and nearby towns, was energised with artworks and events.

The community came together, with great crowds attending the many exhibitions, workshops and experiences led by local makers, creatives and knowledge-holders across the Snowy Valleys, NSW.

Containment Lines

Robyn Sweeney

Over the duration of the Dunn’s Rd Fire, our emotions were so affected by the success or failure of the ‘containment’ of this catastrophic blaze. 

Pilot Hill Arboretum magically survived almost fully intact, saving a collection of beautiful and unusual tree species, some older than the nearby doomed Sugar Pines. I wonder if it was the proximity of Mountain Ash that formed a ‘boundary’ to the Arboretum or was it a quirk of the wind that saved this inspiring place. 

The golden lines that will surround groups of trees is a reference to ‘Kintsugi’ meaning Golden Joinery. This is a Japanese tradition where something broken is repaired with gold, often making it more precious than when whole. 

After the fires, we do what we can to repair what has been broken and see a new beauty in what we achieve. 

Understories

Helen Newman

Understories is a site-specific treasure hunt that speaks to the dreamer child in each of us. Half hidden amongst the moss, tree stumps, pine cones and leaf matter of the Pilot Hill Arboretum a series of very small scale, playful projection works are placed for groups and individuals to discover as they wander along the Pine Walk path.

Fireflies flicker across a burnt-out limb, iridescent fingers of light flow up from the base of a tree, a tiny garden of mushrooms sprout from the earth.

As if springing from a child’s whimsical imagination, Understories creates a secret, magical world where wanderers are enticed to play and discover the unexpected joy contained in these fanciful moments.

The Huddle

Marlene Pearce

The Huddle was crafted during a time of great difficulty and trauma for Marlene Pearce’s family. The whole family and the Adelong community were significantly impacted by the Dunn’s Road Fire in January 2020.

The huddle of herons in Marlene’s work represents the gathering of her family in this time of great need.

Each bird is symbolic of family members regrouping around life’s most precious resource WATER and their family home. It emphasises the importance of the habitats, so essential yet vulnerable, that was lost in the fires.

This sculpture was made for the “Man from Snowy River Festival” which was unfortunately cancelled due to the fires.

Andreas Buisman

For Batlow, 2020

Dimensions 120x80x65 cm, mass 900 kg, diorite, BATLOW NSW

Artist Statement:

In early February I came to Australia, to do some commissions.

It was just after the bushfires had stopped, that I decided to donate a sculpture to be auctioned off with funds going to BlazeAid or another charity.

While driving through burnt bush from Thredbo into the Snowy Valleys for a whole day I thought that might be the right thing to do.....

On the side of the road I spotted a rock, just outside the heavily affected town of Batlow, next to a burnt house.

The boulder was cracked and scattered by the heat as it sat next to a big gumtree that must have burned for quite a while.

The pattern I gave it's dark grey interior reminds us of the charcoaled logs I saw all day long.....beautiful in a scary way

But before we got the story done everything seemed to stop due to that   co... co... corona thing!

As always, not everything meant well turns out well! But you will, in due course, be able to donate towards or bid for this sculpture. In the meantime I have left Australia and the sculpture sits and waits for things to happen!

Thanks to Stephanie Smyth from Bendigo Bank Adelong, Mayor James Hayes from Snowy Valleys Shire, and the mob from Mouat's Farm Batlow for their help.

SIGN_OZ_845

material: norite from adelong/nsw
mass: 3.2 ton
dimensions: 220x140x60 cm

Artist Statement:

In my work I polish, clean and transform for the spectator. I respect the given form, don’t change but translate the boulders and columns I work with, considering myself a servant to those rocks – formed millions of years ago.

My stones are the whales of the land.

Cruising Australia and other countries I constantly search for them. In the lucky moments they will lift their mighty bodies out of the earth and make themselves visible. then the hard work begins: polishing the rough skin for hours I reveal their hidden identity - glimpsing the secret of continuance.

It is very important to interact with my work by touching and feeling the rock’s smoothness and roughness, coolness and heat. Particularly children are often irresistibly drawn to cuddle, play with and even climb the sculptures – what bigger compliment could I ask for?