Arborea: Tineke Van Der Eecken

Arborea explores the world’s forests through precious jewellery and sculptures. Considering a ‘deep time’ perspective, the anthropocene is evoked through the two movements: a first by use of fossils and rocks and other formations developed over millions of years incorporating the shape of trees; a second movement by presenting life forms of today rendered vulnerable by human settlement.

From the magnificent forests of South Western Australia to the expansive and increasingly barren grazing and agricultural fields of the Wheatbelt, we are struck by climate anxiety and grief over loss of habitat. Weather turns into storm. Fire turns to devastation. The introduction of sculptures created through corrosion casting brings an innovative visual element and point of reflection: a sheep’s head’s vasculature and airways raise questions about how we connect with the natural world we claim to know. The exhibition situates our precious Western Australian fauna and flora amidst other parts of the world, where forest dwelling species lose their habitats. We meet primates, as forest dwellers or medical research facilitators, and imagine us humans as agents of change or extinction as we threaten to halt this vibrant pulse of life that makes our planet a living marvel.

Tineke Van der Eecken works across disciplines, creating works inspired by the natural world and expressing the eco-fragility of Western Australian habitats in fine metals, biological art and poetry.