’The Art of Nature’ nature-based art installation at a community exhibition
by Early Childhood Education student, artist and art educator for children, Katrina; with mentors Fiona and Kathy, and partners ‘SHE’ Collective Exhibition @ the Create or Die Studio in Marrickville and Youth Art Showcase (YAS) Exhibition at Pine Street Gallery in Chippendale.
KATRINA (20 years)
My name is Katrina and I am a twenty-year old university student studying a Bachelor of Education for Primary and Early Childhood. I have an innate connection with the wild and I am passionate about working with children, nature and art.
THE PROJECT
‘The Art of Nature’ is a collection of art created to showcase the aesthetically pleasing world of nature. It was conceived through The (re)-Generation Project with the aim to research the connection between art and nature. I wanted to inspire young people between the ages of 18-25 years to engage with nature through the medium of art and to test the hypothesis that nature inspires the creation of art and art inspires humans to ultimately connect us with nature.
‘The Art of Nature’ collection grew into multiple things such as a zine (an unpublished magazine) and two interactive, sensorimotor art installations.
I planned to work with local artists and galleries. The two significant events that have made my activities possible is the ‘SHE’ Collective Exhibition at the Create or Die Studio in Marrickville and the Youth Art Showcase (YAS) Exhibition at Pine Street Gallery in Chippendale. By tapping into existing galleries and events this allowed me to gain an audience and participants for my research.
THE WILD ZINE
To make the WILD zine possible I did a call out on social media including Facebook and Instagram. I asked for young people to connect with the WILD zine and share how nature inspires their art making. I received a great response and featured four local Sydney artists in the launching March Issue. This was then exhibited in the Create of Die Studio Gallery and was acknowledge as a “very natural compilation”.
THE INSTALATON – GREEN ROOM AND BIOPHILIA
There was a momentous amount of planning and spontaneity involved in creating the interactive installations of the Green Room and Biophilia. I first needed to write a proposal to the gallery and specify the spaces suitable to exhibit my work. Pine Street Gallery accepted my proposal and invited me to exhibit in their Youth Art Showcase Exhibition. The form of the exhibition changed, and there was much to prepare, to shoot visual footage, edit, acquire props and install the artwork, and promote the event through social media. On the opening night I undertook surveys to explore the effect of the installations. Here, the majority of visitors were reminded of previous memories in the outdoors and felt a positive link between art and nature.
The Biophilia exhibition asked people to draw an image of nature and tie it to a string.
Katrina in front of the Green Room
