Catch me, I'm falling (2022)
Plants, soil, perlite, textiles, shock cord, terracotta clay, steel and timber
Walking through Rookwood I feel the emotional power of plants; to soothe and comfort us, as expressions of grief, as expressions of the individuality of people that once lived and of great love. Everywhere I am in the presence of plants and people; in mourning rituals, as commemoration, markers of graves and as powerful symbols of the cycles of life. Within the cemetery lie plants in constant flux between wild chaos and manicured order. It’s a place where we grapple with the tension between our impulse to shape our world and our inability to do so. Exposed and vulnerable, these tethered plants swing randomly, subject to forces beyond their control.
About the Artist
Suzanne Davey lives on Garigal Country in Sydney’s Northern beaches. She creates spatial ensembles from textiles, ceramics, natural and everyday materials to investigate the emotional territories of power and control in and reflect on human behaviours and actions or inactions in spaces. Experimental tactile material investigations and plants are integral to her practice. Suzanne developed and facilitated RAW clay LAB, and has exhibited in galleries, public and natural spaces including Manly Art Gallery, Hazelhurst, Eramboo and been a finalist in the Environmental Art and Design Award, Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Award, North Sydney Art Prize, Fishers Ghost Art Award, Northern Beaches Art Prize, Greenway Art Prize and Sculpture at Scenic World.
Transcription
My name is Suzanne Davey and the name of my work is Catch Me I'm falling.
At the time of proposing this work, I was working on a series exploring clay and roots. For an experimental art project that I developed called raw clay lab, I created a suspended plant sculpture out of jute that looked like it was freshly uprooted from the ground, all covered in clay.
Initially, I suspended it from a tree branch and it swung and bounced around in this in between space for hidden I expanded this work and wanted to create an installation that gave the sense of plants ascending from the Earth towards the sky. After submitting an initial proposal drawing, I did a site visit to Rookwood with the curator, Kath Fries, and deliberately chosen exposed and windy spot to place my work.
To suspend the plant sculptures, I needed to create a suitable support structure that loosely referenced the gardeners structures around Rookwood. After a few trials using bamboo and quite a few errors, I eventually came up with this stable wooden structure. My trigger for this work was considering the meaning and the symbolisms of plants in mourning rituals and the use of plants in funeral practices across so many cultures. I've been fortunate to be included in HIDDEN three times previously and been on many long walks around the cemetery observing the use of plants to commemorate loved ones. When you're walking around, you see plants as grave markers, as powerful symbols of cycles of life in the commemorative gardens and the formal garden layout of the grounds. It's just an amazing place to experience, and plants and their importance to us are ever present.
Within the cemetery you see plants everywhere that are in this constant flux between wild chaos and then neatly manicured order. It really is a place where we grapple with the tension between our impulse to shape and control our worlds and our inability to do so. Unlike the viewer to consider the importance of plants to our everyday lives and their important role in mourning rituals. I hope that the viewer will have an emotional response to the work, especially a feeling of empathy for these poor tethered plants as they swing around in the wind, subject to forces beyond their control. I really hope that this work offers the viewer a space to reflect upon the fragility and vulnerability of both human and plant life, and our entanglements and importance to each other.