Links Gallery: 16 January - 22 February 2009

Connie Burns, Atrabilious, 2008, charcoal on paper

Atrabilious captures the withering spirit of the natural environment and its inhabitants, living through the hardship and ravages of drought currently sweeping regional communities. This installation large-scale drawings in charcoal by contemporary regional artists Connie Burns has been inspired by the environmental and social effects of persistent drought conditions.

Burns' technique of taking rubbings in wet charcoal from fallen trees, transferred onto large sheets of paper, creates an enthralling range of textures, formations and linear effects within her finished work. After recording the outer surface of the prone giant trunks, she returns to her studio to rework the impressions, drawing out the skeletal formations and the chaos of images and voices that make themselves available to her.

Burns mourns the loss of venerable gum trees along the Murray River which have provided life with breath for humanity through the ages. She parallels the presumption of human existence with sustainability of the natural environment, and poses the question, 'climate change or human destruction?' It is the artist's intention to overwhelm the viewer with the enormity of the drought's implications: 'I want to engulf thr auduience, engulf the Gallery walls, to create a sense of being 'in' the drawing'.

Opening

When:     Friday 30 January 2009, 6:00- 8:00pm
Where:   Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Cost:       Free