Mineral Lines
South Australian Museum
1 July – 18 September 2022
Mineral Lines was conceived as part of a wider exhibition program, Reaching Out, initiated in 2021 by Tutti Arts. South Australian artists Jackie Saunders and Laura Wills were invited to respond to the permanent collection of the South Australian Museum. Jackie, a Ngarrindjeri and Wirangu artist, was fascinated by the lines and shapes of agate, whereas Laura, whose father was a geologist, looked at the ways land, ecology, history and human behaviour intersected with the collection. Mineral Lines was held as part of the 2022 SALA Festival.
‘We come together, two women: a First Nation Australian and first generation Australian with English heritage. We are inspired by the magic of minerals. We want to share something beautiful from the often painful place of institutional collections.’1
With a shared interest in working intuitively, the artists produced an exhibition of primarily two-dimensional works–drawings, paintings and works on paper–as well as a collaborative large-scale in-situ mural, Making Minerals (2022). The mural referenced the recurring patterns between the minerals collection and constellations of the night sky. Mineral Lines received a Judges’ Commendation for the Advertiser Contemporary Art category in the 2022 SALA Awards.
Mineral Lines was supported by Tutti Arts, the South Australian Museum, The Department of Premier and Cabinet, and Arts SA. Many thanks to Meg Riley, Community Programs Coordinator, SAM.
Reaching Out was a Tutti Arts initiative curated by Belinda Howden, Patricia Wozniak (Visual Arts Coordinator, Tutti Arts) and Ellen Schlobohm (Deputy Visual Arts Coordinator, Tutti Arts). Many thanks to Patricia and Ellen for their enduring support.
- Jackie Saunders and Laura Wills, Mineral Lines media release, ↩︎
BELINDA HOWDEN 