ELLEN BENNETT & JESSICA PEASCOD | WATERWORKS

Gallery 1 & 2 | 8 April – 2 May 2021

2020 started on a sombre note in New South Wales with devastating bushfires on top of a prolonged drought. Having only relatively recently moved to a 200 acre sheep farm Jessica and Ellen had their first taste of the effects of drought as they watched our dams dry up, looking like cracked sores in the landscape. The whole nation watched large populations of fish die in riverways and for the first time communities had water trucked in and were uncertain of their short and long-term viability. These impacts and unnerving times gave rise to this exhibition by Ellen Bennett and Jessica Peascod as both a celebration of water and a consideration of the fragility of water ecosystems and their inhabitants.

Jessica Peascod works in mixed media with her works characterised by skillfully executed monotype backgrounds embellished with beautifully illustrated water creatures. These illustrations are a break away from Jessica’s formal natural history illustration training as she explores a variety of materials such as acrylic and watercolour paint, printmaking inks, marker pens and a range of pencils. Using the backgrounds as a starting point for the illustrations creates the feeling the animals are often rising from the depths to reveal themselves.

For Ellen Bennett this exhibition represents a continuation of her printmaking journey and especially the use of found objects to create her works of art, especially collagraphs. The incorporation of her love of ceramics remains a constant in her artwork as seen in the fish themed amphora prints. Detritus often found in waterways has been used to create stencils and textures in the artwork