Still (once trees)

2022 / Rookwood Hidden / Nerine Martini Award winner

Burnt, truncated telegraph poles are barely standing at the edge of a local road; the Black Summer fires have made their own memorial. I recovered them from the Bendelong area on Dharawal and Yuin country close to my regular holiday campsite after the scene was reduced to a blackened still-life just over two years ago.  No longer able to convey power, telecommunications and light, what remained of the poles bore witness to an underlying breakdown in how we respond to our country, the global climate crisis and each other. The 20 poles sculpted by fire, now located at Rookwood Cemetery on Dharug land – it becomes another memorial –somewhat displaced, asking us to be present on an intimate level, with the stillness of death and silence of Country after catastrophic fires.

Whilst the pandemic has seemingly eclipsed the fires, Still (once tree’s) reminds us to remember the land, animals and people are still deeply affected. And the fires will come again.

– Stevie Fieldsend