Between Two Sites

curated by Sarah Lynch and Madelynne Cornish

Bogong Centre for Sound Culture

Burrinja Cultural Centre

27 May- 1 July 2023

catalogue by Prudence Gibson

Above the Snow Line, 2023

Above the Snow Line is a photographic investigation of encountering the snow gums in the high plains of the Victorian Alpine Region affected by drought, fires and woodboring beetle infestations. They are the only trees that can grow above the snow line. They provide a habitat for animals and birds and slow the ice melt flow to the Murray-Darling Basin. They thrive in the most severe weather conditions, enduring snow, ice, and extreme winds. 

The Bogong Centre for Sound Culture residency allowed Sarah to contribute to Save our Snowgums, www.saveoursnowgum.org, a citizen science project collating observations of Snow-gum dieback across the Australian Alps. The data collected will provide scientists with a greater understanding of the underlying reasons for the susceptibility of snow gums to woodboring longicorn beetle infestations that kill the trees. The beetle larvae essentially ring-bark the tree, leaving visible scars on the trunk and branches, and the tree's canopy gradually declines in health and dies. 

Above the Snow Line seeks to highlight the plight of the snow gums and bring awareness to the catastrophic events occurring due to a changing climate and the impacts of drought, bushfires and beetle infestation in this unique Alpine ecosystem. This project invites the viewer to look closely at the fragility of these iconic trees as they have nowhere else to go. 

Edition of 5+ 2 AP

Archival Inkjet Prints

100cm x 66.7cm