Circumnavigator

The idea for the Circumnavigator series came to me when the reality of COVID-triggered international border closures in early 2020 really hit. Like many Australians with family split across continents, this situation, unprecedented in my lifetime, seemed quite surreal. With our wings clipped, literally grounded, our Antipodean isolation and the ‘tyranny of distance’ in the midst of a global pandemic suddenly felt real and acute. As though geography was re-shaping our destiny in the most unexpected of ways. With real travel off the agenda, the old vintage stereographic View-Masters came to mind, with their circular reels of 3D postcard images, and their ability to instantly transport the viewer to exotic tourist destinations. Like ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ portals into aspirational worlds, they provided a kind of haptic and virtual circumnavigation experience. The series – set in the charred landscapes of Namadgi and Kosciuszko (Targangal) national parks – explores nostalgia, escapism, and traditional conceptions of exploration and adventure. It is also an invitation to the viewer to imagine how, as 21st century explorers, we might navigate this new era of physical caution, vicarious travel and uncertainty in an upturned world to reinvent ourselves and our relationship with place; to re-imagine and re-set ‘the journey’ in audacious, authentic and inspired ways.