Ilza Burchett – The gentle murmur of the Riverscapes IN FLUX

These are stories of loss and gain, of beauty and ugliness, of bewildered sorrow and shy hope.
Stories of adaptation and transformation by necessity.

The seventeen stories become one about life and death: they bring a restless sense of an uncertain present  and perhaps even more uncertain future, directing our attention to the seed of warning in the message of Voltaire’s words. 

The gentle storytelling murmur of the river scapes in flux…narrated humbly, with respect, by the artists for our benefit — with the efficiency their chosen media could afford — without exaggerations or false pathos, but telling us to trust our senses, judge for ourselves and draw our own conclusions.

This deeply heartfelt art is profoundly touching in its clarity of feelings, directness of form and the delivery of its message: sometimes allegoric, like the collected shoes/slippers preserved in place of the anonymity of the discarded lives; sometimes ironic, like the luxury of foul smell bottled for posterity; sometimes mournful, like a shameful throw-away photo; sometimes hopeful, like the inedible but nutritious packaged snack; but always observant, thoughtful, characteristically rational and coldly factual.

This art can never be asked the question that some art installations pose to the viewer of what it all means…

It is art that does not dare but accept the logic of the complexity of being with the sadness of a lost protest, in the end plunging us into the unmitigated darkness of the impending catastrophe — a future it does not want.

This exhibition must be seen by everyone.

P. S. “The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.”
Voltaire