2024 Victorian Museums and Galleries Awards SMALL PROJECT OF THE YEAR (GALLERY) WINNER: Burrinja Cultural Centre x Bogong Centre for Sound Culture, Between Two Sites

October 16, 2024

I am thrilled to announce that the exhibition Between Two Sites, which I co-curated with Madelynne Cornish, won the SMALL PROJECT OF THE YEAR (GALLERY) at the 2024 Victorian Museums and Galleries Awards! This joint effort between the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture and Burrinja Cultural Centre was given recognition for its contribution to the gallery and museum sector in Victoria.

Judges’ comments: This creative project, executed on a very small budget, showcased a strong collaboration between an Artist Run Initiative and a public gallery. The partnership was particularly commendable for its initiatives aimed at low-vision and blind audiences. The project effectively used both onsite and online platforms, creating a meaningful dialogue between two geographic areas and their environments. The impact on gallery practice was significant, highlighting what can be achieved with modest resources.

A big thank you to Vitae Veritas, the consultants from the low-vision and blind communities, artists Anne McCallum, Shannon Collis, Sarah Edwards, Lesley Duxbury, Amias Hanley, and all the collaborators who made this project possible. Also, to PGAV and Australian Museums and Galleries Association Victoria for hosting such a fun awards night.

Visit the exhibition here: https://bogongsound.com.au/projects/between-two-sites

https://www.between-two-sites.com [audio described].

We also got on the front page of the Star Mail in the Yarra Ranges. Shamsiya Hussainpoor interviewed Madelynne and me about winning the award and the exhibition. Link to: Article

Funders: Creative Victoria, Yarra Ranges Council, Burrinja Cultural Centre

From left to right: Awards presenter, B–CSC co-curator Sarah Lynch and Madelynne Cornish, Burrinja, CEO Melanie Burge and Manager of Collections JD Mittman.

Photo: Sharon Blance © AMaGA Victoria and PGAV

From left to right: Sarah Lynch and Madelynne Cornish.

Photo: Sharon Blance © AMaGA Victoria and PGAV

Well...it's in my nature by Soft Meadow Collective at Bakehouse Studios

March 26, 2024

well…it’s in my nature by Soft Meadow Collective, Bakehouse Studios, May 2023

Soft Meadow Collective aims to reignite dormant biophilic forces by immersing the viewer in the captivating forms and vibrant colours of plants thriving amidst the urban landscape. We believe that the sublime experience of nature is not limited to grand landscapes or far-off wilderness; it can be found in the backyards, small balconies, and overlooked spaces along train lines and abandoned lots. It’s in my nature is a transformative gesture that celebrates the lively interplay between the human and the plant world.

Between Two Sites, Curated by Madelynne Cornish and Sarah Lynch for the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture, Burrinja Cultural Centre

February 28, 2024

Between Two Sites

Burrinja Cultural Centre

May 27th - 1st July 2023

Artists: Anne McCallum, Madelynne Cornish, Sarah Lynch, Shannon Collis, Lesley Duxbury, Sarah Edwards, Amias Hanley

Curated by Madelynne Cornish and Sarah Lynch

Public Programs:

Exhibition Launch: Saturday 27th of May @ 2pm
Between Two Sites ~ Artist Round Table: Sat, 3 Jun 2 to 4pm:
Twining Workshop ~ Presented by Anne McCallum: Sat, June 10, 1-3pm
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve - An Immersive Listening Experience: Sat June 17, 1-2.30pm
Children's Activities: Build a nest with Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater: Thurs, June 29th, 10.30 to 2.30pm

The Between Two Sites exhibition and public programs respond to the impact of human activity on habitats in the Yarra Ranges and Alpine Shire. Curated by Madelynne Cornish and Sarah Lynch for the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture. It showcases the artwork of Victorian and international artists who participated in the centre’s residency program. These artists have undertaken extensive fieldwork within the Yarra Ranges, Alpine National Park and Kiewa Valley. They have produced a new range of site-specific artworks that comprise a rich and diverse set of environmental references to deepen our understanding of these places. Artists have used audio-visual installation, photography and sound composition to reflect the ecology of these regions.

Catalogue by Prudence Gibson

Audio Description by Vitae Veritas. Audio Description is a key access tool enabling people who are blind or have low vision to equitably access arts and culture and can also benefit people with multisensory and learning disabilities, neurodiversity and Autism.

Between Two Sites has been generously supported by Creative Victoria, Yarra Ranges Council, and Burrinja Cultural Centre.

Between Two Sites, 2023 Installation View Photo by Christian Capurro

Soft Meadow Collective: Spontaneous Plants Dérive and Pop-Up Library at Collingwood Yards at the National Sustainable Living Festival 2023

January 3, 2024

With a focus on the unique plant life that flourishes in novel ecosystems such as abandoned or overgrown lots, the Soft Meadow Collective invites discussion on urban biodiversity, pollination pathways and mitigating climate change in the city. Attendees will be taken on a walk around the backstreets of Collingwood and will each receive a unique map and zine along with access to the collective’s pop-up library.

This project aims to embed deep ecological principles into everyday life and create dialogue around complex histories, and environmental and climate issues. The dérive explores the vital role spontaneous plants play in mitigating the heat island effect, improving soil health of disturbed sites, encouraging urban biodiversity, and creating habitats and pollination corridors. The plants are fast-growing, low-maintenance and low-cost. Spontaneous plants can remind us that nature is always with us.

This project was generously supported by the Climate Action Small Project Grant, Yarra City Council.

Spontaneous Landscapes: Matthew Gandy's Natura Urbana Film Screening and panel discussion, Bookshop by Uro

November 7, 2022

Urban geographer Matthew Gandy's film 'Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin' explores the spontaneous explosion of diverse wild landscapes in the abandoned urban spaces of Berlin during the post-war period. Emerging from war-time destruction, economic malaise, and geopolitical division, these empty sites evolved into laboratories for botanists, artists, and ordinary people seeking respite from the city.

In this panel talk, Matthew Gandy joins landscape architect Alistair Kirkpatrick, artist Sarah Lynch and Uro Publications' Maitiú Ward to discuss Gandy's film and recent book 'Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellations in Urban Space' (MIT 2022), and the role spontaneous plants play in the urban environment.

Matthew Gandy is a geographer, urbanist, and cultural critic. He was born in Islington, North London, and is Professor of Geography at the University of Cambridge. He previously taught at University College London where he was Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory.

Alistair Kirkpatrick is a landscape architect and university lecturer. He has had a varied career over the last 20 years, working in the disciplines of botany, garden design and ecology focusing on Melbourne indigenous vegetation.

Sarah Lynch is currently based in Naarm (Melbourne) and works primarily across digital and analogue photography, video and installation. Lynch’s most recent work examines the diversity of the botanical world and the relationship between plants, people, and the ecosystems they inhabit.

This event was produced in partnership with artists Daniella Ruffino and Sarah Lynch and Bookshop by Uro, with support and sponsorship by the Yarra City Council and Yarra City Arts. This event took place at Composite Moving Image, Collingwood Yards.

Spontaneous Plants of Collingwood Dérive

July 26, 2022

The Studio 15 artist collective will take you on a dérive of spontaneous plants in the surrounding areas of the Collingwood Yards

With a focus on the unique plant life that flourishes in novel ecosystems such as abandoned or overgrown lots, and cracks in the pavement and rooftops. Inviting discussion on urban biodiversity, pollination pathways and mitigating climate change in the city of Yarra.

Terrain Vague: Spontaneous Plants in the City

May 18, 2022

Video Link

Come on a dérive through the city with artist Sarah Lynch and ecologist Dean Schrieke as they wander into abandoned industrial sites, forgotten parklands and overgrown rail corridors. Terrain vague is increasingly recognised for interweaving social, political, and ecological networks.

Have you ever wondered what plants flourish in urban spaces and why? What are spontaneous plants and novel ecosystems? Come and find out what to look for when you next wander along a train line or through an abandoned urban space left to overgrow in the city.

Join Sarah and Dean as they integrate artistic and scientific discourse to unpick these networks, with a particular focus on their unique plant life.

About the Speakers

Dean Schrieke is a PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne. Dean is interested in the functionality of ecological novelty, an umbrella term describing human-mediated change at different ecological levels. Dean's PhD research focuses on green roofs, engineered to grow plants on city rooftops.

Survival Exhibition runs 23rd March - April 9th, Rubicon ARI, North Melbourne

This project has been generously supported by the Victorian Government's Sustaining Creative Workers Initiative by Creative Victoria and Regional Arts Victoria.

Encounters with the vegetal world: in conversation with Dr Prudence gibson and sarah lynch

April 7, 2022

video link

About this event

Join artist Sarah Lynch and writer Dr Prudence Gibson in an introductory discussion on Critical Plant Studies, the entanglements of plants, science, art and philosophy, focussing on the vegetal world. This conversation will draw attention to plant blindness, decentering the human and the importance of making space for vegetal liveliness.

About the Speakers

Dr Prudence Gibson is an academic at the School of Art and Design, University of NSW, Sydney. She is Lead Investigator of an Australian Research Council grant in partnership with Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium. Her recent books are The Plant Contract (Brill Rodopi 2018), Janet Laurence: The Pharmacy of Plants (NewSouth Books 2015), and her forthcoming book, Dispatches from the Herbarium will be published with NewSouth Books in February 2023.

Survival Exhibition runs from 23rd March - 9th April, Rubicon ARI, North Melbourne

This project has been generously supported by the Victorian Government's Creative Workers Initiative, Creative Victoria and Regional Art Victoria.

REFLECTIONS on BoGong centre for sound culture residency

July 7, 2021

Whilst on the residency weather was the most pressing force determining the activities to be undertaken in the field. From whiteouts of thick fog to filming in snow showers, torrential rain and gale-force winds… For further reading: Journal Entry # 2

Bogong centre for sound culture residency

June 28, 2021

I have embarked on my first artist residency at Bogong Centre for Sound Culutre in a remote Alpine village that was purpose-built for the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme in North East Victoria. Here is a link to my Journal Entry #1

Rmit school of art graduate FESTIVAL- master of photographY

December 1, 2020

Check out the RMIT graduate festival and exhibition now launched online. What an incredible journey it has been over two years.

Online Gallery link:

Online Gallery

Virtual Exhibition: Survival: encountering the vegetal world in the era of mass extinction

November 13, 2020

Here is a link to my Final Masters Project. Please let me know what you think of it. I want to thank all the people involved in the project. My supervisor Chris Barry for her insightful feedback and encouragement. I want to thank my friends and family for your unrelenting support through my masters course.

This project has enabled an understanding of the critical role that the vegetal world plays in creating the atmosphere we inhabit and in supporting human life. It has unfolded my practice into new possible areas of research in the field of Critical Plant Studies. This research has opened up my eyes to the vegetal world, and I want to acknowledge the role plants have played in the creation of my imagery. When collecting plant specimens, leaves and weeds, my intention has been to showcase the uniqueness of so-called unsightly weeds and their overgrown environment. This enquiry has developed out of curiosity of the vegetal world and daring to take a closer look at the plant life that inhabits ‘this island of nature’ in an urban parkland surrounded by housing estates. Hence, this relationship has developed out of the need to relate to nonhuman others amidst a global pandemic when local green spaces have become vital for suburban existence. It has made me appreciate the pivotal role plants play in creating the atmosphere, and making it possible for humanity to exist in the terrestrial world. If we pay more attention to plants, we may be able to have a greater understanding of how plants adapt to their environment, enrich the soil, and sequester carbon: a possible solution to the crisis we find ourselves in, and possibly avert climate change and the imminent threat of mass species extinction.

Enter Exhibition

Virtual exhibition by sarah lynch

June 19, 2020

The Aftermath: Atmospheric Perspectives

enter virtual exhibition

Western fwy, Masters of photography, rmit semester 2

November 12, 2019

western fwy, has been my final project for semester 2. It documents my journey to find unauthored sculptures along the western freeway.

What a joy ride this year has been. I have faced so many challenges and fears that I am proud of what I have produced at the end. I even made a book. Learning indesign was a lot of fun.

Some archival imagery of the western freeway

Urban Landscape Artist talk at RmIT Photography

September 5, 2019

Rebecca Najdowski invited me to do an artist talk to the 1st and 2nd years landscape class in photography. It was a whole lot of fun. I spoke about the work I had done this year on concrete and industrial landscapes. This was my first talk on landscape photography and my process behind the making the pictures. I showed the students my prints and test strips. Can’t wait to do another talk in the future.

3DLut creator Course wiTh Les Walkling

July 8, 2019

Fantastic day with Les Walkling at his studio. Learning a new program for colour grading and luminosity masking. What would normally take a long time in photoshop you can do in seconds in 3D LUT creator. Look up tables have always been used in film production to grade the colour of films. Finally there is a program designed for photographers to make 3DLUTs. Can’t wait to experiment on my new images for this coming semester at RMIT.

NGV collection viewing day RMIT Masters of Photography

April 22, 2019

Had the amazing opportunity of going behind the scenes at the NGV with the RMIT Masters of Photography class. Shane Hulbert gave an interesting talk on each image and their importance in the history of photography in Australia. To see the prints up close was so enriching rather than an image on a screen or book.

Athol Shmith

Matthew Sleeth

Katrin Koenning, Swell and Peter Dombrovskis: Journeys into the Wild @ MGA Climarte Festival Art+climate=change 2019

March 9, 2019

Very excited to see these two shows at the MGA as part of CLIMARTE Festival: ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019. Saw the Dombrovskis: Journeys into the Wild show in Canberra last year at the National Library. I highly recommend seeing this show if you love traditional landscape photography.

Really loved seeing Katrin Koenning’s new show Swell. It’s a good contrast to Dombrovskis as it’s a more contemporary response to landscape and psychological territories.

On a Clear Day exhibition by Sarah Lynch, Aylsa McHugh & Daniella Ruffino.

November 6, 2018

It has been an inspiring journey to get to create On a Clear Day with the incredible Aylsa McHugh and Daniella Ruffino. Thanks to Les Walkling for the brilliant printing and Arten Framing for doing such an amazing job with the frames.

The Boundless Inner Sky, by Sarah Lynch

Roman Concrete installation by Daniella Ruffino

An amazing renaissance style food installation was arranged for the opening night.

An excellent turnout for the opening. Thanks to all that came.

Printing Exhibition Prints with Les Walkling

September 20, 2018

I can’t believe the the prints have come together for my group show On a Clear Day with help from the Master printer Les Walkling and his son Andre. There is no greater feeling than seeing them at a larger scale on the finest photographic paper. I went with Baryta Prestige for its smoothness and tone. It evokes the look and aesethic feel of traditional darkroom papers.

I always learn so much working with Les and Andre on solving creative problems.

Here are some the steps involved in the creative process of printing.