For this class we were required to incorporate Australian native flora. As this is a class title that has been used a number of times for this annual show (it is a rural spectacular), I wanted to have an interpretation that had not been seen before.
Thinking about a woodshed, my first reaction was not so much the wood as the creatures that inhabit that kind of space. The challenge, then, was to create some “creatures” with plant material.
The main structure is a “wood stack” made from twigs and branches of a banksia with some banksia flowers and cones added for textural contrast, all placed on a cut slice of gum tree. The top banksia is to indicate that sometimes there is unexpected growth in the wood pile.
Crawling up the wood pile are my creatures. These are symbolic red back spiders which every wood pile in rural Australia would have! They are made with wire, gumnuts and casuarina seed pods. A small red mark is painted on each (with nail polish) so everyone would know what kind of spider it is 🙂
You can make these yourself with the technique I used by clicking here.
This design placed first.
Judges comments: A very clear interpretation of the title with good contemporary and European design influences of stacking and manipulation.
