Abstract
It’s the magpies warbling outside my suburban bedroom window, heralding the dawn and carolling their own special melodies, that lull me to sleep each night and rouse me in the morning. Not the sounds of birdsong in the Tasmanian wilderness, certainly, but an iconic Australian experience, nonetheless.
Tasmanian artist, Helen Wright, whose artwork appears in Bett Gallery’s current exhibition Some stories are worth telling and is featured on the cover of this issue of the Journal, has long been captivated by the delicate beauty of birds.
As Wright explains, ‘The bird paintings form a collection of images derived from both my ongoing experience and fascination with native bird life, most often close to home at Cornelian Bay but also at Kelso, an old family property with a native garden, in the north of the state.’
‘Birds also inhabit and inspire my imagination as I watch and hear their everyday interactions and the significance of their distinctive sounds and gatherings from early morning to late evening’, she adds. ‘Living in a silent world without such sounds seems unthinkable.’
Whether tiny spotted pardalotes with their bell-like chiming, or long-tailed finches and honeyeaters, chattering and twittering, their songs will uplift the listener. Birdsong, in all its guises, is recognised for improving mental health, connecting us with nature and relaxing, restoring and rejuvenating our faculties.
Wright has won major Australian prizes including The Hutchins Art Prize, The Burnie Print prize and the works on paper category of The Waterhouse Natural History Prize, South Australia. A survey exhibition of her work is scheduled at the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Launceston, in August 2025. Wright’s work is included in numerous public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery.
Travellers Rest 2 (detail)
pearlescent oil on linen (2023)
137 x 107 cm (stretcher size)
Cover image courtesy of the artist and Bett Gallery https://www.bettgallery.com.au/
© Helen Wright
