Hopeful Disruptions
Artist Residency – September 2024
E3 Studio, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Creating Together at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
During the final two weeks of our residency, we worked in the E3 Studio at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. This time together allowed for collaboration, experimentation, and shared inspiration.
Will Rodgers was immersed in editing an extraordinary collection of sounds — from dung beetles beneath the soil to cattle moving between pastures, the Murrumbidgee River and its aquatic life, and even the whisper of fences in the wind.
Tracy Pateman created a clear visual map of the river itself — a scroll detailing our daily activities — alongside her finely carved fallen branches, each one holding the tactile stories and expressive moments of our time together.
After introducing myself to the river, I began working with paper bathed in its flow and eddies, developing three large-scale pieces. Standing before an expansive white wall, I was drawn to paint big — capturing the enduring life force I found in the roots of a five-hundred-year-old Red River Gum.
It was a stimulating and vibrant period, filled with conversation and exchange between artists and community.
