Art and ecology: Paul Fletcher on his lifelong collaboration with nature
Meet Paul Fletcher, a multi-media artist and horticulturist dedicating his practice to exploring the connections we share with the natural world. Hear from Paul as he prepares to showcase his latest work in Always and Altered, a new group exhibition at Benalla Art Gallery, presented in partnership with Centre of Visual Art and Winton Wetlands.
"I've always been captivated by art and nature," says Honorary in Animation at the VCA, Paul Fletcher.
Paul grew up in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, where he spent his youth in the large garden and making experimental music in the family shed.
His early interest in art took a fortuitous turn when he discovered a book on experimental animation practices by filmmaker Cecile Starr, marking the beginning of a long career as an artist working across the diverse fields of animation, video, sound, and sculpture.
"That book had a profound impact on me," he says. "Even to this day, I haven't exhausted experiments in animation – mining sound and movement in different ways […] I'm always looking for the next thing."
Today, Paul's latest experiments in sound and movement are featured in Always and Altered, a new group exhibition at Benalla Art Gallery exploring our local and universal relationship with the land – a recurrent theme in his own practice.
Paul conceived these works during a three-week Art + Ecology Residency at the University of Melbourne's Dookie Campus, which he saw as an opportunity to "collaborate with the natural world".
"I was drawn to the residency because of its framing around ecology," he says. "One thing that's stuck with me all my life is an appreciation of nature. It was a luxury to […] create work in response to the natural environment at Dookie.”
His residency resulted in several video works and a 22-minute sound work titled From Under the River to Above the Ground, derived from sound recordings taken at Dookie's Forest reserve and areas along Broken River.
"I used hydrophone microphones to capture the rhythmic noises of insects beneath the water's surface – it was fascinating […], like entering a different world."
These recordings form a layered soundscape that brings the atmosphere of Broken River and its surrounds into the exhibition space.
Accompanying the sound work is a film that will be projected onto the Benalla Art Gallery façade throughout September.
Paul describes the film as a "monster of layers" arising from several experiments in the field.
"I recorded data from growing plant cuttings I brought from home as well as data recordings of other plants, fungi and lichen around Dookie," he says. “I use these data recordings as MIDI (musical information) in digital video composition; triggering sounds and affecting shapes, colours, and textures in the film."
For Paul, the film is an experiment in creating “a simultaneous viewing of multiple times or eras in a landscape. It offers a view that is neither objective or subjective, but intersubjective and unfamiliar to allow for contemplation.”
"The film is, in part, orchestrated by the plants I recorded," he says.
"Through the process, I've combined the aesthetics and energy of the plants around Dookie with that of my own."
Paul's artistic collaborations with the landscape coincide with the world's hottest month on record and heightened discussions around climate change, environmental issues, and ongoing ecological degradation.
While governments and politicians too often reach a point of inertia in tackling these issues, Paul suggests that creative practices have a vital role to play in guiding us back toward a more sustainable path and reminding us of our inseparability from nature.
“Art has the ability to foreground our relationship with the communities of life,” he says. “It helps us see the world from many perspectives and to honour the imagination and creativity of our own and all nature.”
Always and Altered will be on display at Benalla Art Gallery from 4 August to 17 September.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Centre of Visual Art (CoVA) and Winton Wetlands, involving artists from the Art and Ecology Residency program at the University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus.
Exhibiting artists include: Lauren Berkowitz, Judith Nangala Crispin, Sebastian di Mauro, George Egerton-Warburton, Paul Fletcher, Dr Treahna Hamm (Firebrace), Ernest Marcuse, Rene Martens, Andy Pye, Jen Valender, Yandell Walton, and Stephen Wickham.