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Tuesday 03 December 2024
Open 9:00am - 5:00pm

The Body Language of Plants

21 April 2023 - 28 May 2023

The Body Language of Plants

Claudine Marzik
Umbrella

Claudine Marzik, The Body Language Of Plants #6 (detail), 2022, Acrylic and oil crayon on paper, 49 x 37cm.

This body of work has been developed over the last two years as part of an ongoing series on paper. The series engages with existing histories and palimpsests from mounted plant specimens, collected and reworked by Claudine Marzik. The artist was inspired by her work as a volunteer at the Australian Tropical Herbarium at James Cook University in Cairns, remounting plant specimens which had been collected in the region around Weipa, Cape York Peninsula. The process required a careful removal of the plant material from the original backing sheets and a remounting onto museum-standard, archival sheets. The collected plant material had left imprints and shadows on the original paper as “faint memories of themselves”, which caught Marzik’s attention. The generosity of the team at the Herbarium enabled the artist to collect the original sheets and rework the inspiring originals into new works.

Read Claudine's exhibition catalogue here and her invitation here.

Exhibitions launch 
6pm Friday 21 April 2023
Claudine Marzik - The Body Language of Plants will open at 6pm by Professor Stephen Naylor with speeches from approximately 6:30pm. The Body Language of Plants will open alongside Susan Peters Nampitjin - TungkurlErica Muriata Midja and Caleb Cameron - Deeply Decayed. Please join us to celebrate these artists and works. 

Umbrella Floortalk
10am Saturday 22 April
Join Umbrella and artists Claudine Marzik, Susan Peters Nampitjin and Caleb Cameron for a discussion about their exhibitions and their art practices. Read the full details here.

Botany x Art Workshop
9:30am-12:30pm Sunday 23 April 2023
Join exhibiting artist Claudine Marzik and botanist Prof Betsy Rivers Jackes for an exceptional opportunity to engage with local plant life at the intersection of science and art! Read the full details and book here.

Claudine Marzik migrated from Basel, Switzerland, to Cairns in 1988. She is best known for her large-scale abstract works of Far North Queensland’s unique landscape and botanicals. She has recently been working on varied series of works, including The Body Language of Plants and another addressing the specific concern of extreme seasonal changes and their effects on the environment. She has held major exhibitions within Australia and overseas including travelling exhibitions. Marzik has been a finalist and winner of many art awards and her work has been acquired by public collections, various regional galleries, Artbank and private collections.

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Umbrella asks that visitors adhere to social distancing, visitor logs, and other COVID Safe directives and procedures as directed.

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Open Hours

Tues - Fri: 9am-5pm

Sat - Sun: 9am-1pm

Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks.

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Contact

(07) 4772 7109

408 Flinders Street,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia

PO Box 2394,
Gurambilbarra (Townsville),
Qld, 4810 Australia

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Acknowledgement of Country

Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region - Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal - as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.

Umbrella is a Dealer Member of the Indigenous Art Code. This means we are committed to fair and ethical trade with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and transparency in the promotion and sale of artwork. As a Dealer Member and signatory to the Code we must act fairly, honestly, professionally and in good conscience in all direct or indirect dealings with artists.

Acknowledgements

Umbrella is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments. | Umbrella is supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. | Townsville City Council is a funding partner of Umbrella's program.