Gabrielle Courtenay
Ibis 602

recycled polystyrene, haberdashery feathers, house paint, acrylics, external filler, wire , epoxy on canvas & timber frame base

88 x 26 x 59cm

I grew up near Centennial Park walking the family dog on trails through the Parklands Eucalypt and Paperbark swampland; towards the bull rush lined ponds full of aquatic birds and floating tree lined islands. It created a lifetime fascination with birds and the fecundity of Australian wetlands. The regeneration of the Cup and Saucer Wetlands has restored the creek and surrounding environment. Spending time drawing, photographing and observing the native plants and birds in the Creek and Wetlands led to my interpretive work, Ibis 602. It is constructed from recycled polystyrene and haberdashery feathers. Ibises once lived in large populations in inland marshes. 1970’s drought forced them to migrate to city parks where they feed off left over waste foods, denigrated as filthy Bin Chickens and often in poor condition. Conservation of the Cup and Saucer Wetlands allows these birds magical in flight to emerge as sacred again.