Kooragang Island & Ngulagambilanha (“On Returning”)

Brian Rope | Mixed Media & Photography

Kooragang Island & Ngulagambilanha (“On Returning”) | James Rhodes & Jessika Spencer

Photo Access | 4 July – 3 August 2024

These two new exhibitions at Photo Access are very different but share something significant. In his Kooragang Island show artist James Rhodes challenges traditional representations of that island’s landscapes, on unceded lands of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, and invites us to appreciate and respect the delicate balance of its remarkable wetlands’ environment. In Ngulagambilanha, Wiradjuri artist Jessika Spencer intimately shares details of Aboriginal cultural practices and, through them, explores her cultural identity.

Through her varied art forms, Spencer explores her cultural identity. She does this via photography, poetry, writing, activism and both contemporary and traditional weaving. She is a qualified photographer with years of experience in creating visual imagery, collaborating with her local community, and travelling for her artistic work. Here she shares with us her photography and some fibre art pieces. The imagery shows us moments of cultural practices such as ceremonies, weaving and gathering. The photos are straightforward, colourful and pleasing to look at.

An image showing an Aboriginal scarred tree healing in Wiradjuri Country is most pleasing because of the qualities of the light in the area of bushland.

Healing, Wiradjuri Country, 2023, inkjet print © Jessika Spencer

Another shot shows the hands of an Aboriginal matriarch wearing clothing displaying the well-known Aboriginal symbol and holding gathered lemon myrtle.

Matriarch Aunty Helen, Gathering Lemon Myrtle Gumbaynggir Country, 2024, inkjet print © Jessika Spencer

The artist’s two sculptural pieces use contemporary weaving techniques employed by Aboriginal people and are also most pleasing to the eye. One of her phots also shows a piece of weaving.

Ngurra Wall Hanging, NgunnawalNgambri Country, 2023 © Jessika Spencer

For Spencer, being an Aboriginal woman, culture and art go hand in hand. This exhibition reveals something of that to us.

Multidisciplinary artist Rhodes is known for his photomedia, painting and sculpture. In 2022, Rhodes earned a PhD, the subject of which was the meaning of materiality in photographic practice. Currently, he is a lecturer in Photography at The University of Newcastle.

In this exhibition Rhodes combines abstract photography, hand-coloured prints and projection to reveal something of his perception of the world around him. From a distance as I walked into the gallery at Canberra’s centre for photography, film, video, and media arts I wondered where the photography was, but as I moved closer to the first works I saw that the underlying images in them were photographs. Questions I then heard others asking included why are there red crosses over the pictures? Why are they framed with aluminium foil? Why are there differently sized white borders on most of the works, sometimes not on all sides of the pieces?

Speaking with the artist as we stood alongside one of the works ensured I gained some understanding. Photographers who worked with film back in the day very probably marked up their proof sheets for printing with hand-applied coloured grease pencil lines, thus creating a lasting reference. So, Rhodes is incorporating subtle symbols and ambiguous motifs into his works. The use of aluminium foil is an artful reference to the clearing, draining, filling and dredging that significantly impacted the island landscape. His blank white spaces are intended to make us aware of the adjacent areas we cannot see.

The artist’s photos have been overpainted, but they clearly are there. Belle Beasley’s room sheet essay elaborates and is well worth reading after viewing the exhibition – or whilst you are there if you need assistance to interpret the artist’s messages.

Wet Toes, 2024, oil paint and silver gelatin on board with Aluminium © James Rhodes 

Stationary, 2024, oil paint and silver gelatin on board with Aluminium © James Rhodes 

A Slow Evening, 2023, inkjet print -  © James Rhodes

The good news is that the Kooragang Wetlands have progressively been very much restored, redressing the loss of fisheries, shorebirds, threatened species and other wildlife habitat in the Hunter Estuary due to clearing, draining and filling over the past 200 years.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.