In A Disrupted Landscape I explore how urban environments shape my emotions, memory, and the psychological experience of space. Through digital photography, projection, installation, and mixed media, I reflect on fifteen years of quietly observing and walking around Stony Creek Backwash, revealing my deep connection to place, time, and identity.

My investigation uncovers the long and layered history of disruption in Stony Creek – once belonging to the Marin-bulluk clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and the Yalukit Willam of the Boonwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. This site symbolised connection between territories and waterways, an environmentally rich landscape of drooping She-oak forests (Allocasuarina verticillata) and open grasslands that linked to the Western Volcanic Plains.

Through my work, I trace the transformation of this place through waves of colonial, ecological and industrial change – from the impact of introduced flora and fauna to early manufacturing industries, the construction of the West Gate Bridge, and the continual intertidal flow of rubbish, plastics, and chemical spills. Yet among the debris, the White Mangrove stand (Avicennia marina), continues to persist, embodying a quiet resilience.

By merging these ideas, I have created emotional landscapes that explore memory, grief, and the complex, often confusing layers of coexistence - interwoven with history, culture, stories, and personal identity, exposing the hidden, sorrowful and dark aspects within this damaged landscape.

My work invites reflection on the fragility of urban ecosystems and the importance of restoration: improving waterways, planting trees and indigenous vegetation of the Western Volcanic Plains and encouraging the return of wildlife and ecological balance to places like Stony Creek Backwash.

Catalogue coming soon