Beforethefirstfarflash

Glenn Barkley

This work was made after reflecting on the devastating fires of 2019/2020. It uses texts from the Australian poet Judith Wright 'Before the first far flash' which comes for her poem 'Black Cockatoos'. I grew up on the south coast and still live their part-time - my brother and parents are there. I think of it as home and it is the place I inhabit in my dreams. I went to school in Nowra, which is on Yuin country, and the Nowra is the local word for Black Cockatoos. When I see them in the sky, and hear their call ' crying the worlds unrest' I realise their power and cultural importance. The fires devastated local bird populations that are only now starting to return and I wanted to depict something personal to me - their connection to my home and family - but also their importance to local people and the resilience of NSW south coast communities.

Medium: Other – earthenware ceramic

H  59cmcm x W 33cmcm    x D 37cm cm

Catalogue Number:  22AP57