Birds

BIRDS TURBINE HALL AND UPPER TURBINE GALLERY (EAST)
17 June – 15 October 2023

Commissioned by Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre

Stainless steel bushfire mesh, stainless steel insect screen, polypipe, stainless steel fencing and pet mesh, aluminium frame, cotton sash cord, nylon rope, marine grade stainless steel ubolts and bolts. Hand drawn and digital animations, charcoal drawings on Fabriano paper
Birds by Lisa Woolfe is an invitation to pause reality for a moment, engage with our animal senses and imagine the feeling of gentle flight and movement.

Installed in the cavernous industrial space of Casula Powerhouse’s Turbine Hall, experience the awe and wonder of Woolfe’s immersive multi-media installation. See her lofty sculptural birds constructed from utilitarian materials adorn the ceiling and her huge hand-drawn animations fill the hall with the joy and wonder of birds in flight.

Open daily for the duration of the exhibition, a hands-on art making workshop suitable for all ages will be accompany Woolfe’s dynamic homage to the Australian Raven.

Lisa Woolfe is fascinated by the dynamics of avian flight. She has spent many hours carefully observing a population of Australian Ravens who live on the edge of Manly Dam on Sydney’s north shore. Inspired by Leonardo DaVinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds (1501-1506), Woolfe has pushed the boundaries of the drawing medium in delightful and technically sophisticated ways to beautifully capture in gestural sweeps the ephemeral gliding, swooping and soaring aerodynamics of the Raven in flight.

Woolfe’s curious use of materials, including bushfire screen, insect screen, window sash, poly pipe, and aviary and pest mesh -- traditionally used to build or maintain structures that keep the natural world separate -- reflect her interest in the philosophy of the Deep Ecology movement. Deep Ecology advocates for us to radically change our relationship to nature; from one valuing nature solely for its usefulness to one that recognizes nature’s inherent value. Some proponents of the Deep Ecology movement have urged humanity to reconnect more meaningfully to the natural world by embodying animal senses. Birds expertly exploits the tensions inherent in the modern-day human/nature divide by inviting us to embody the spirit of the Raven e feeling of gentle flight and movement, despite the work’s hostile materiality.