Ruminations - Rumsey Art Walk: invitation



Ruminations: Rumsey Art Walk
13 October to 11 November 2012

Rumsey Rose Garden, Parramatta Park, Parramatta NSW
Opening + Performance: Friday 12 Oct 5-7pm
Artist Talks + Performance: Sunday 14 Oct 2pm 
Curated by Kath Fries




Arboreal - my work in progress for Ruminations: Rumsey Rose Garden Art Walk, Parrmatta Park


Kath Fries, Arboreal concept, 2012, digital sketch

Arboreal explores an anthropomorphic* relationship with trees. Earlier this year, one of the two central pear trees the Rumsey Rose Garden was splitting in half, straight down the middle of its trunk. Now the breakage has stopped, because the tree has been bolted together - like pins in a human broken bone. This natural occurrence and the tree surgeon's solution has instigated Arboreal, an intervention installation were I will wrap the joints of the pear trees’ branches in strips of fabric, like broken human limbs. Between the layers of fabric there will be glimpses of gold leaf and charcoal residue, suggesting alchemic healing. And an oversized bamboo crutch will seemingly support a lower bound branch. Arboreal is a playful work, partly inspired by the serious traditional horticultural practices I observed in Japan on a research trip in 2011, thanks to The Japan Foundation’s New Artist Award
(*Anthropomorphic means the attribution of human characteristics to nonhumans.) 

Kath Fries, Bandaged tree in Kyoto, Japan 2011, image link

Ruminations: Rumsey Art Walk is a series of site-responsive installations and performances in Parramatta Park's Rumsey Rose Garden, part of Parramtta Park's Spring Festival. My plans and ideas for Ruminations: Rumsey Art Walk have been building over the past two years, while I've had a studio in the dynamic Parramatta Artists Studio complex. Ruminations is an outdoor exhibition of installations by Kath Fries, WeAve Parramatta and Parramatta artists: Simon Alexander Cook, Chrissie Ianssen and Majid Rabjet, as well as a performance by Vanessa White with Karl Krebs. 
More information: www.rumseyartwalk.blogspot.com.au


Kath Fries, Kyoto tree crutchJapan 2011image link

Meander, 2012, ephemeral installation commission

Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass),
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW

Meander was one of six site-specfic installations commissioned by Albury City for Wonga Wetlands, for the two week outdoor exhibition 'Art in the Wetlands'. Meander invites visitors to follow a river-like labyrinthine path between contours of phragmites (a native wetland grass that grow abundantly in the Wonga Wetlands). Truckloads of phragmites have recently been harvested from this area and relocated along the banks of the Murray River in an attempt to stem the endemic erosion.

Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW

Over the two weeks of the exhibition the grass outside of the phragmites-river-bank-path demarkations will grow, and a track would be temporally worn into the ground within by the impact of people walking along the route. At the conclusion of the exhibition, Meander will simply be mown back into the grass, and for a few days the lines of the installation will still be visible where the underlying lawn will have changed colour due to lack of sunlight beneath the phragmites.

Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW

Meander continues my exploration of materiality, spatiality and archetypical narratives relating to transience of existence and fragility of life. My site-sensitive processes and use of found materials infers a poetic commentary about human struggles with nature and that which is naturally uncontrollable in our lives.

Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW
Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW
Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW
Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW
Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW
Kath Fries, Meander, 2012, phragmites (native wetland grass), 
Art in the Wetlands, Wonga Wetlands Albury NSW

Thank you to Tom Arnold - Albury City Urban and Public Art Officer; John Hawkins  and his team at Wonga Wetlands; and my fellow exhibiting artists Michael Shiell, Natalie Ward, Jane Gillings, Bronwyn Cossor, Vernon Bartlett; for their support of and interest in my Meander installation.

Meander - work in progress - Art in the Wetlands


The transience of existence and fragility of life are recurring themes throughout my practice. My site-sensitive process and use of found materials infer poetic commentary about human struggles with nature and that which is naturally uncontrollable in our lives. Meander invites visitors to follow a river-like labyrinthine path between contours of phragmites. Phragmites are a native wetland grass and grow in abundance here. Truckloads have recently been harvested from the Wong Wetlands and relocated along the banks of the Murray River in an attempt to stem the endemic erosion there.

Aerial view of the Murray River. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer, The Age, 2008
Kath Fries, early plan for Art in the Wetlands reed walk installation, 2012
Kath Fries, Meander, (work in progress), 2012, phragmites (native wetlands grass)
Kath Fries, Meander, (work in progress), 2012, phragmites (native wetlands grass)
Kath Fries, Meander, (work in progress), 2012, phragmites (native wetlands grass)

Phragmites in the Wonga Wetlands

Phragmites are a native wetland grass that grows prolifically in the Wonga Wetlands. They play a key role in naturally filtering water in the lagoons, in the final phase waste water treatment.

Kath Fries, Phragmites, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Phragmites, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Phragmites, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Phragmites, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Phragmites, 2012, Wonga Wetlands

Bird life in the Wonga Wetlands

There are numerous birds in the Wonga Wetlands and they have been constantly catching my attention. Two of my favourites are the Azure Kingfisher and a local family of Black Swans with their six signets...

Kath Fries, Azure Kingfisher, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Azure Kingfisher, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Azure Kingfisher, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Azure Kingfisher, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands
Kath Fries, Black swans and signets, 2012, Wonga Wetlands

ABC radio interview and photos


The Wonga Wetlands on the outskirts of Albury will double as an arts space over the next two weeks. The Art in the Wetlands exhibition features the artwork of local and national artists and highlights sustainability and environment themes. All installations interact with their surrounding environment. Artists involved include Bronwyn Cossor, Natalie Ward, Kath Fries and Vernon Bartlett. Art in the Wonga Wetlands September 14th to September 28th, 2012.


Kath Fries, Art in the Wetlands, work in progress, photo by Allison Jess

Natalie Ward, Art in the Wetlands, work in progress, photo by Allison Jess

Vernon Bartlett, Art in the Wetlands, work in progress, photo by Allison Jess

Wong Wetlands - home to Art in the Wetlands, photo by Allison Jess




Art in the Wetlands - exhibition invitation

Albury City Council invitation to Art in the Wetlands Exhibition Opening

I'm one of six artists commissioned by Albury City Council to create an ephemeral site-specfic installation for Art in the Wetlands.

Artists: Michael Shiell, Natalie Ward, Kath Fries, Jane Gillings, Bronwyn Cossor, Vernon Bartlett

Art in the Wetlands: 14 - 23 September, 2012
Artists talks Saturday 15 Sept, 11am, Wong Wetlands

For the first time, Wonga Wetlands will play backdrop to an exciting temporary art show. The exhibition features artworks created specifically for Wonga Wetlands, highlighting the themes of sustainability and the environment.  All works will interact with the trees, water, and the earth providing visitors with a unique experience as they wonder through the beautiful springtime WetlandsThe ephemeral works commissioned will be exhibited for two weeks and installed and removed with zero impact on the wetlands. The site for the project, Wonga Wetlands, is an ecosystem of lagoons and billabongs covering around 80 hectares.