Interrupted Vines

Interrupted Vines is a series of tin foil paintings depicting three Australian native plants: Waratah, Corymbia, and Grevillea. The series draws on the Chinese decorative motif of intertwining vines, a visual language traditionally associated with continuity, regeneration, and cyclical growth, to depict Australian flora in a linear form. Through this cross-cultural lens, post-fire plant resilience is reinvented as a continuous, but delicate, rejuvenation process.
Instead of presenting an idealised vision of harmony, the compositions are deliberately fragmented. This visual disruption functions as a silent narrative, evoking the sudden interruption and ecological rupture caused by bushfires. Continuity is neither seamless nor assured; it persists through breaks, scars, and material instability.
The choice of tin as a medium further deepens this reading. Tin carries historical resonance in Australia, recalling domestic architecture and utilitarian objects from the Great Depression, where weathered tin structures embodied endurance amid hardship. Over time, exposure to sun, rain, and heat transforms tin into mottled, rusted surfaces, bearing visible traces of survival.
The artworks are presented in frames, a purposeful choice that portrays these fragmentary narratives as experiences to be stored, preserved, and revisited. Framing becomes an act of appreciating adversity, encouraging viewers to see periods of rupture as formative events that continue to inform resilience and renewal.