Felicity Spear

This exhibition is a material reflection on the revelatory properties of light found in the undercurrents of ebb and flow, where the continuous change and rhythms of the cosmos play out in time and space.

I live near a small river once full of life but struggling now, bordered by ancient River Red Gums reaching out to earth and sky, just holding on. Where the surviving wildlife seeks shelter in disappearing grassy woodlands. Where the night sky is fading as the glare of the city looms and invades nocturnal life. I try to imagine the life I cannot see in the hope that it’s still there, in a sensory world where water and light give life. When searching the night sky I imagine the gravitational pull between Earth and Moon, creating a rhythm which has guided life for thousands of years.

Out there in the cosmos electromagnetic vibrations ripple through space emitting light in various wavelengths, deepening our access to nature through instruments for seeing and listening. Fifty years ago Apollo astronauts, while speeding towards the Moon, observed and photographed images of planet Earth from a vantage point which few could imagine ever reaching. An apparition, a blue sphere suspended in the void and wrapped in a razor thin protective atmosphere. They were overwhelmed by its beauty, humbled by its seeming fragility and in awe of its intricately connected entirety. This experience was described later as the overview effect, a feeling of interconnected euphoria.

We cannot now ‘un-see’ the image of our blue planet orbiting in space. We cannot ‘un-feel’ the impending sense of loss, experienced also by those early astronauts who felt a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of our fragile Earth. But now, half a century later, the human exploitation of our planet and its multi-species community seems relentless.

Felicity Spear – August 2024