• Charles Sturt University creatives launch art exhibition, ‘Cries from the Anthropocene’, in Wagga Wagga
• The exhibition is part of the second volume of a new research journal by the Creative Practice Circle Research Group
• The exhibition is open from Tuesday 25 February to Thursday 27 March at the HR Gallop Gallery

 A Charles Sturt University creative research group has highlighted current existential dilemmas through an artistic exhibition in Wagga Wagga.

The exhibition, ‘Cries from the Anthropocene’, is the product of the Charles Sturt Creative Practice Circle (CPC) Research Group, featuring mixed-medium artworks from digital prints and paintings to three-dimensional diagrams, books, embroidery, poetry and more.

The collective works will form the second installment of a new research journal launched in late 2024, the Journal of Creative Practice Research.

‘Cries from the Athropocene’ was officially opened by Dr Lachlan Brown on Tuesday 25 February at the HR Gallop Gallery, Building 21, at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga, where it will be open for viewing between 10am and 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until the end of March.

Associate Head of Research and External Engagement in the Charles Sturt School of Education Associate Professor Jennifer Munday, who is a founding member of the CPC, said the body of work aims to strengthen sustainable thinking and action on the climate crisis in particular.

“The Anthropocene, which is the era in which the planet’s climates and ecosystems are impacted by humans, is here now, bringing the long-predicted intensification of drought, fire, flood, heatwaves, glacial melting, extinctions and biodiversity loss,” Professor Munday said.

“We maintain that the humanities and critical enquiry are more important than ever, both in Australia and globally.

“Interdisciplinary inquiry and collaborations with scientists, artists, activists, people living in regional and remote places and/or other marginalised communities are essential to uphold this.”

Eleven of the CPC’s members and guest artist Mr Ben Baxter each contributed to the exhibition, creating pieces which prompt viewers to think and act on the climate crisis.

Professor Munday said some research questions to prompt the artworks included:

• How might the arts intersect with the grief and anxiety of living in the Anthropocene?

• What is the role of creative practice as a research methodology for exploring fear and loss?

• What opportunities exist for interdisciplinary engagement between artists, humanities scholars, scientists, activists and environmental experts in engaging with our theme?

• How might we account for and acknowledge the more-than-human world, and/or that of the Unknown Other – those we can’t see or hear because we don’t recognise them?

“For example, my artwork centres around the impact of climate change on our seas and oceans in the form of 30 by 30 centimetre multi-media collages,” she said.

“These works were created while on an arts residency on Hrisey Island in Iceland. Icelanders in particular are witnessing the faster shrinkage of the glaciers and unseasonable weather changes.

“My intention was to work specifically with cyanotypes as the melancholy ‘blueprint’ seems to lend itself to being in Iceland, near the Arctic circle, where species are endangered and the pole is diminishing.

“On my way to the residency, I came across a newspaper publication. Some of the headlines from this particular Icelandic publication spoke directly to the thoughts many of us are having about the climate crisis, and I felt they needed to be included in the collaged works.”

Fellow contributing creative Ms Claire Baker, who lives on Wiradjuri land in Wagga Wagga’s Lake Albert, produced two pieces for the exhibition.

Wildfire is a mixed media piece made of acrylic paint, ink, thread, cotton bias tape, feathers and ephemera which decipts the sweeping destruction of forests as a result of up-scaled fires.

“Red leaf imprints over black brush strokes signify the detriment of flora during fires,” Ms Baker said.

“Charcoaled remains of trees and animals are referenced by the stitched and painted areas, while feathers and small rusted items have been stitched across the background. Birds and animals don’t have much of a chance to escape the rapid spread of flames.”

Ms Baker sourced red cotton tape from an op shop and has sewn it around the edges and across the paper. This represents ‘red tape’ slowing down bureaucratic response in addressing the need to take up first nations’ practices of small clearing burns.

“The small picture of a green shoot collaged at the top right-hand corner provides a hint of optimism, just as green leafy shoots frill along burnt tree trunks,” she said.

“We must hope that the global shift in information and acknowledgement will lead to more attention to prevention rather than observation of this destruction.”

For more information, visit the website.