John Wolseley and Ms. M. Wirrpanda—Molluscs / Maypal and the warming of the seas
John Wolseley’s 2016 gift to Geelong Gallery of his ten metre long, six panel panoramic watercolour The pearl fisher’s voyage from Ise Shima to Roebuck Bay, 1985–89, was the catalyst for an immersive installation in which Wolseley and senior Yolngu artist and clan leader Ms. M. Wirrpanda, extended their decade-long collaboration. Both artists share a profound sense of the beauty and fragility of the earth and its ecosystems, and in this project their works meditated especially on the mollusc as a powerful indicator of changing oceanic conditions and water systems.
Wolseley’s work included unique woodblock prints taken from swamp mangroves that bear the bored channels of ‘shipworms’, a widespread species of mollusc feared by 17th and 18th century naval explorers, including James Cook, for its capacity to consume a ship’s timber, rendering it dangerously unseaworthy.
Ms. M. Wirrpanda’s lyrical bark paintings and larrikitj maintain knowledge about traditional foods sourced on land and in the waters, including 'shipworms'.
Geelong Gallery acknowledges the passing of Ms. M. Wirrpanda in 2021, after the presentation of this exhibition in 2019. References to Ms. M. Wirrpanda have been made in October 2022, following a period of mourning.
Events
Slow Art Day
Saturday 6 April
Slow art tour
Sunday 14 April
Creative conversation: Art + Environment—John Wolseley and Alexandra de Blas
Wednesday 24 April
Geelong After Dark—heighten your senses and abandon what you know
Friday 3 May
Reconciliation in the Park
Sunday 2 June
