Artist: Eizabeth Pedler Work: No One is an Island (2019-2020) Location: Wellstead, Western Australia Community partners: Wellstead Community Resource Centre and Windi Windi Pastoral Co.
“What began as a conversation with a farmer became a residency, then a series of interviews, then videos projected onto sheds and farm buildings, on a sheep-grazing property in Wellstead, a small town an hour east of Albany, Western Australia. Through dialogue across months, different perspectives came to light about grain prices, preserving bushland, the water table, colonial history, and what the ecology (both environmental and social) of life in this place looks like in a changing climate. At the end of this residency working alongside, observing, and listening to locals, the artist presented a series of video projections, inside of farm buildings and onto the sides of sheds and silos at Windi Windi Pastoral Co. on 22 February 2020. The project highlighted the stories of the town, and the diverse relationships that people have with the landscape, in an event open to the whole community. The night was capped off by thunderous rain, to the delight of all the farmers present.” Elizabeth Pedler
About the artist: An artist interested in the range of participation possible in art, Elizabeth Pedler's practice spans from playful and interactive installations to collaborative relational aesthetics. Identity, food, and community involvement are areas of particular focus, and have led to significant artistic development in her recent arts practice, engaging with audiences through the sharing of experiences and storytelling.
About the community partners: Wellstead Community Resource Centre (CRC) is a community managed non-for-profit organisation. Wellstead CRC offers a mix of social, economic, technological, health and wellbeing opportunities, otherwise unavailable to the geographically isolated community.
Windi Windi Pastoral Co is a farming business owned and run by Richard Davy on the south coast of Western Australia, east of Albany. The farms have been run holistically (holistic resource management-Allan Savory) using biodynamic and organic principles since 1999. Richard has an artful approach to his work, documenting through image and word, the natural and manmade landscapes about him.
About the place: Wellstead is a small rural town situated in Western Australia in the Great Southern region between Albany and Esperance. The name commemorates the Wellstead family who settled in the area in 1860 and had held grazing land between Cape Riche and Bremer Bay. Farmland was opened up in the area in the 1960s for cereal cropping and land was set aside for a townsite.