Fish out of Water – Murray Cod is a work that documents a physical, cultural and spiritual journey along the length of the Murray River from Corryong through to Goolwa. The journey begins with petrified red gum sourced from the river, which is between 5-900 years old, and has been worked into pebble forms on which I have painted Murray Cod. I have photographed the painted pebble forms at nine locations on the Murray River which refers to an earlier work Fish out of Water – Sabbats . This curent work comments on our sense of place and belonging, the cultural histories the river has supported, and the changing environments from source to Murray Mouth.
The idea for this project developed from Fish out of Water – Sabbats which was an intervention project that I have been working on since Summer Solstice, 2013 and continued through until Summer Solstice 2014. For this piece I painted sardines on river pebbles and released one on each solstice, equinox and cross quarter. These pebbles rest on the petrified red gum.
The nitty gritty of working the pebble forms out of the petrified redgum. Lots of hours of grinding, sanding, blood, sweat and fortunately no tears!! These are the beautiful raw objects before the finish was applied and the painting of the Murray Cod.
A very nervous time in the studio trying to work out how to paint the Murray Cod onto the pebble form. This is the first fish that I painted and the first moment that I realized that this project could work.
The project has two outcomes. The first is a series of nine sculptural works and the second is a series of photographs documenting the fish at nine different locations along the length of the Murray River. There was much planning and consulting of maps to work out the nine locations. The number 9 relates to Fish out of Water – Sabbats and represents the year long cycle involved in that work – acknowledging the seasons, the changes of light and the journey that we travel each year.
A glimpse at one of the photographs from this series of work. Fish out of Water – Murray Cod, Lyrup Flats, South Australia, 2015.