Robyn Glade-Wright’s artistic practice revolves around ideas concerns for the environment and the manner in which works of art serve to illuminate aspects of lived experience.

Degradation of habitats, changes in land us and climate and the loss of species do to extinction are recurrent issues in Glade-Wright’s practice. She is recognised for working with found objects and natural materials, re-contextualising them into alluring yet fundamentally disturbing or challenging installations.

In this exhibition, Red Tide, Glade-Wright presents a range of ideas concerning the fragility and vulnerability of the Biosphere that is the only region in the universe that support live. Glade-Wright’s piece, Fragile Rim, is a mirrored installation that reflects our gaze. The work questions our role in the management of this fragile rim that sustains life. 

Other installations illustrate specific recent environmental events such as toxic algal blooms that have increased in size and frequency in recent years. A recent red algal outbreak in Chile caused the death of 40,000 kilograms of marine life. Loss visually represents the predicted extinction of half the 300,000 plant species in the tropics by the end of this century. Crown of Thorns draws attention to the devastation of invasive outbreaks of starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.

Through this exhibition Glade-Wright implores her audiences to think about their place within this small and irreplaceable planet. 

Dr Robyn Glade-Wright’s is an artist and educator. She is a Senior Lecturer, Bachelor of Creative Arts and Media at James Cook University.

Image: Robyn Glade-Wright, Very Fishy 2016, mixed media. Photography courtesy of Michael Marzik.