Exploring how one can learn from our natural surroundings and the adaptable nature of an instinctual longing to thrive in an environment, despite ongoing devastation. Healing is ingrained into their being and thus the question arises; if this regeneration is too ingrained in ours?
When trees are injured they develop physical and chemical boundaries, callus tissue is formed and the growth of new wood is used to close over the injured place. A form of mental and physical memory is inscribed upon the body of the tree, helping it to better resist future inflictions and trauma, therefore aiding in the notion of ‘growing a thick skin’.
Do scars fade or do we grow around them?
Paying homage to past struggle and embracing the body's resilience lives at the core of our existence, finding place and comfort in that place shortly follows.
Bridie Fitzgerald is a multidisciplinary artist working and creating in Naarm, so-called Australia.
After commencing her studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, Fitzgerald has specialised working across several mediums of analogue lens-based creating. Her practice seeks to identify themes of place and personhood as she navigates her own understanding of her surroundings, and how she fits into the narrative of belonging in one’s own space.
Working with feelings stemming from both familiarity and unfamiliarity in the world around her, Fitzgerald navigates her impermanence as her work attempts to make these feelings of uncertainty, tangible. Seeking beauty in the mundane and interconnectedness with the land and waterways as she identifies personhood through place. Capturing still texture, holding the moment, looking closer, and indulging in the fervour of just being. Making sense of an ever-changing world, and utilising the act of creating as an optimistic guide through an established appreciation for the artist's incorporation in the process of making, an evocation which intermingles her interests in environmental sciences and creative photography.