Exhibition

2Seasons

Belconnen Arts Centre

118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, ACT

10 July – 2 August 2015

Helen Aland, Lee Berryman, Sarah Body, Julie Burdis, Kate Bussey, Gerald Clapham, Ingrid Gersmanis, Jozsef Godolley, Maria Kraatz, Sandra Lancaster, Tara Leckey, Suzi Lyon, Pip McManus, Amanda McMillan, Danny Murphy, Ruth Murphy, Mel Robson, Cecily Willis, Hermannsburg Potters and visual arts students from Pitjantjatjara Areyonga.

Opening event: 5.30pm Friday 10 July

The Northern Territory has two distinct climate zones – the Tropical Top End and the semi-arid Centre. While the Indigenous peoples of the Northern Territory have an intricate and beautiful traditional calendar that describes the relationship of changing weather over the course of 12 months, and how these changes influence country and culture, most urban dwellers typically experience two seasons: in the Top End, The Wet and The Dry, and in the Centre, The Hot and The Cold.

In the Top End, The Wet brings the rain and the country bursts with new life. The floodplains fill and wildlife populations explode. The country is green and lush, and inspiration is everywhere, from the storm clouds to the rushing tides, and everything in between.

And then quite dramatically it stops. The rain is finished and The Dry arrives. Dragonflies herald the change. The floodplains drain and the earth becomes parched under faded blue skies and scorching magenta sunsets. Bushfires roar, clearing space for new growth and filling the skies with smoke. A chance to wear long sleeves, and sleep without air conditioning.

In The Centre, the change of seasons is not quite as drastic, with a scent of Autumn and Spring between The Hot summer season, where temperatures can reach 40°C & more, and The Cold winter season, where night time temperatures can dip below zero.

At times, The Centre sees no rain at all;p red earth and blue skies as far as the eye can see. And then some years, so much rain that waterfalls cascade over the sandstone face of Uluru, and a celebration of wild flowers bloom in the tracks of the receding summer flood waters. Then The Cold brings frost that covers the ground like a fresh blanket of snow - a dichotomy of weather in a vast and sprawling land.

This exhibition by Northern Territory ceramic artists explores the influences their 2 Seasons have on working with clay in the Territory.

Image: Lee Berryman, Cloudy – with a chance of tea, image courtesy of the artist.