imagine if

There is a lovely passage in Lyng's book on Scandinavian migration to Australia describing the country around Pialba where my Caroline Jensen (later Riemer) lived. It was sent to Lyng by a contributor to his research in 1901:
"I was one of the Danes who in 1875 selected land in the Pialba district. We were upwards of forty Scandinavian families, and more arrived later. Most of these early settlers are still there. The dense forest has disappeared, and the district presents a beautiful landscape covered with luxuriant fields of maize, sugar plantations, and vineyards... In the Mary valley are many Scandinavian farmers, of whom several are orchardists and wine growers on a large scale." (in Lyng 1939: 129)
My Mother remembers Pialba as pretty even in the 1950s. The greater area of Hervey Bay is mostly suburban now. I like to imagine my Jens Peter Jensen as one of these early settlers of the Mary valley area, although I don't have much evidence of that at this stage. I believe he made a business of timber, like so many other Scandinavians. I'm prone to think of them all as quite serious and laconic but a Danish resident of Bundaberg maintained that "with all their toil and self denial, the Scandinavian immigrants were a cheerful lot, and often met to make merry."(in Lyng: 131) Imagine if my Jens Peter was amongst the Christmas revellers, celebrating for three days with sports, games, feasting and dancing? That would change my view of him, wouldn't it?

Reference: Lyng, J. S. (1939). The Scandinavians in Australia, New Zealand and the western Pacific. Melbourne: Melbourne university press in association with Oxford university press, London [etc.].

collaboration

I have developed a habit of collaboration over the past two decades. With friends and colleagues, family, and sometimes even complete strangers. The illusion that we create anything on our own has always infuriated me. There are invisible hands at work in everything that is made, written or built, but we are happiest if we can attribute these to a single author. Working with my father on the Finial/Filial work has been immensely rewarding. We experiment with tangles, branches and limbs. I am getting my own studio space for the first time in years and I am nervous and excited. Like so many artists I have used kitchen tables, spare rooms and other people's workshops to devise and make work. I took advantage of the empty studios at work to photograph an experimental set up for S2Q Finial/Filial. The thought of being able to keep it assembled and play with it for an extended period of time is intoxicating.
My partner, my son and I went to David Nixon's opening at Woolloongabba Gallery last Friday evening. David's printmaking is beautiful but I was particularly taken by his gentle constructions and his video work. There is a warmth and affection in what he does that I really enjoy. I have known David for over 20 years and this is a perfect reflection of his personality.