This year I have started a new series of works exploring the inland lakes and rivers of the Murray Darling Basin (MDB), building on the Words for Water project.
As an ACF River Fellow and River Ambassador, I have learnt a lot from other Fellows from around the MBD about the many challenges the rivers and her communities of people and creatures face. Hearing the personal stories of people, especially First Nations people about how much the rivers have changed and deteriorated was heart breaking. The image of the ‘Mighty Murray’ of my childhood imagination has been forever replaced with visions of ancient Red Gum trees with their roots exposed and mighty trunks laid bare, ghosts in a haunted landscape.
When the Rivers Run Dry started as a response to seeing the fill kills in Menindee Lakes and on the Murrumbidgee near Balranald. I wanted to bring back a focus on the river as a system, that it is a living system that connects – a system that we are all a part of. By exploring these lands via the satellite imagery of Google Earth my intention is to capture snippets of the diversity of the MDB ecosystems, sharing through social media and exhibitions.
You will see in some of the images ghostly faces and other figurative elements, reflecting this connectivity between land, human, plant and animal. These are fragile, beautiful and diverse places that have flourished for millions of years before agriculture came. I want to focus on this beauty, to reveal its intricacy and diversity in order to expose the river system as a life giving force that should be protected
Coinciding with World Water Day on 22 March, I am having an exhibition of some new works at the Belconnen Library – more details coming soon.
Tracey M Benson || Bytetime 