Rural Utopias Residency: Elizabeth Pedler in Wellstead #2
Elizabeth Pedler is currently working with the community of Wellstead. This work is one of those forming part of one of Spaced’s current programs, Rural Utopias.
An artist interested in the range of participation possible in art, Elizabeth'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.
Here, Elizabeth shares an update from Wellstead.
This second week of the residency was a shorter visit to Wellstead, but got underway quickly. Driving down on Monday I saw harvesters at work, mowing through fields of wheat and leaving clouds of golden dust in their wake. Tuesday morning I was helping Richard out with moving sheep at 7.30am. We took the motorbikes over to a paddock across the road, and moved the sheep into the yards.
Although I’d had some experience riding on my previous visits, negotiating the hilly terrain strewn with rocks hidden in grass, I was a bit anxious. With my mind split between terrain, bike, and sheep, I found myself having trouble with the bike, and kept stalling it when taking off after stopping, then later dropped it before I had the chance to put the stand out, and needed Richard’s help to lift it up. It was a reminder that the skills I’d learned in previous visits hadn’t been used for the last 8 weeks, and I could feel that without use or sharpening, rust had settled in. We then moved the sheep through the yards,Richard operating the swing gate to separate the more recently shorn from the woolly sheep,and then we drenched the shorn sheep and released them into a field where oats had just been harvested. The woolly sheep we moved up the road and they were released into a paddock near the old stables.
In the days that followed, I observed and recorded video as canola and wheat was harvested, oat unloaded into silos, and truckloads of canola seed deposited into the grate at CBH. Watching the combine harvesters being driven through the canola, they seemed like giant herbivores chewing their way through the field in neat lines.
I also spent time talking with some of the people living on neighbouring farms. On Thursday I made a visit to the Gormans, and chatted with Margaret and Mike about how the town had changed in the time they’d been there. They provided insight into what it was like moving there when the land was released in the late 1950s, and the conditions that met those who arrived. People making do living in sheds and tents, or sleeping under a scrap of tin, made the hut I was staying in seem truly luxurious. On Friday I drove over to Wilyun Pools, and spoke with Sylvia and her partner Peter, talking about how it was for Sylvia and her siblings growing up in Wellstead, and their decision to return to run the farm more recently. Sylvia gave me a tour of the property, frequently stopping the ute to get out and show me the differences between various types of local eucalypts and banksias, picking up seed heads and leaves to compare. I could hear in her voice a passion for this work, for restoration of this land, however it was apparent that this was not always an easy or clear-cut task.
The season had moved on markedly since my last visit, and every farm I passed was a hive of activity, everyone busy at work. The weather had brought about an early harvest, and the farmers I spoke to indicated they expected to be finished before December arrived, much earlier than is usually anticipated. While everyone here working with the end clearly in sight, I was just scratching the surface.
-Elizabeth Pedler
