Super Natural Geologies | Hugo Michell Gallery | 1 August – 31 August 2019In Super Natural Geologies, Amy Joy Watson’s shimmering embroideries and woven wire hills reimagine utopic landscapes, moving beyond the natural world as we know it. The geometric quality of these threaded surfaces references the artist’s earlier sculptural works, with spatial planes and strata described by directional lines of thread. During a recent trip to Arkaroola, Watson was struck by how ancient the landscape was – commonly thought to hold the earliest examples of life on earth. Having grown up believing that the earth was only 6,000 years old, and created in 6 days by a supernatural act of God, Watson investigates this fantastical idea and how it is contradicted by Yura Muda (Adnyamathanha Dreaming), geology and ‘deep time’. She responds by lovingly and laboriously weaving and stitching – a nod to the possible billion years it took for this landscape to evolve. Arkaroola 1, 2019, watercolour and metallic thread on paper 1540 x 1020mm Arkaroola 2, 2019, watercolour and metallic thread on paper 1540 x 1020mm Arkaroola 3, 2019, watercolour and metallic thread on paper 1540 x 1020mm Arkaroola 4, 2019, watercolour and metallic thread on paper 1540 x 1020mm Arkaroola 5, 2019, watercolour and metallic thread on paper 1540 x 1020mm Arkaroola 4 (detail) Super Natural Geologies (install) Hills (installation view), 2019, wire, paper, metallic thread, dimensions variable Hills (Installation Detail 2) Hills (Installation Detail 3), 2019 Hills (Installation Detail 3), 2019
Arkaroola embroidery photos by Grant Hancock | installation photos by Sam Roberts |