The Canberra-Bombala connection…
Amanda Stuart’s show Mongrel Dogs (Nil Tenure) opened at CCAS Manuka last Thursday night, and it’s another bottler (you’ll no doubt recall her fabulous Bush Pack at Bermagui’s ‘Sculpture on the Edge’ earlier in the year.) It’s hard to imagine they could be as effective in a tight, interior setting – but they most certainly are.
The analogy of their elusiveness (sudden appearance and disappearance through the walls) works wonderfully well, and they literally bound across the gallery with a reckless impunity that speaks volumes about the feral dog scourge wreaking terrible havoc across vulnerable bush environments (not to mention the attacks on stock on adjoining farming properties…) These dogs, escapees from domestica, are a clear and present danger to native habitat and a huge concern to all those charged with the protection of our vast National Parks.
The exhibition was opened, appropriately, by the Bombala Area Manager of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Franz Peters (adding a nice little dovetail for the Gang; Bombala being a mere hop-skip-and-jump from the hide-out!), who reiterated in no uncertain terms the mounting difficulties faced by his NPWS rangers. (Gawd, we can just imagine his opinion regarding the imminent importation of ‘Savannah’ cats…)
It’s a great show – and we’re looking forward to the next installment. (Amanda, who’s a candidate for PhD in sculpture at the ANU School of Art, will soon be doing a stint of fieldwork in the Far South Eastern forests, so we’ll make sure we hook up with her then and follow some of her work-in-progress.)
You’ll find more sculptors than you can poke a stick at, and plenty of feral action, in the mugshots from opening night…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasscentralcanberra/sets/72157605798907658/
…and you’ll have to be super quick off the mark if you want to catch the show – it finishes this coming weekend…
Related articles:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23916745-5013571,00.html
glass central canberra 
