It’s a complex issue. We use non-biodegradable things because they are completely entwined with our everyday lives. And even if we each do ‘do the right thing’ (cue 80s jingle) by putting our rubbish in the bin, there really is no ‘away’ when it comes to throwing things. If it doesn’t break down and biodegrade, it’s still somewhere. In fact, every piece of plastic you have ever used still exists, in one form or another and the bits are getting so small that we are unknowingly eating, breathing and drinking them. 

 In creating Rivulet I collected human-made, imperishable objects found in two locations along the Hobart Rivulet, South Hobart. The first location, by the C3 car park, yielded a significant amount of plastic packaging in various sizes and degrees of degradation. At the second location, next to the end of the Hobart Rivulet walking track, I found freshly discarded items such as a full and unopened bottle of water and numerous cigarette butts.

 The mandalas in Meditate On This are reimagined photographs of discarded plastic and general rubbish collected from public spaces (playgrounds, parks, beaches & public reserves). I photograph the objects, sometimes singularly and sometimes as a group, and then manipulate and layer the images into colourful and complex mandalas. Mandala means ‘circle’. Mandalas represent wholeness and are used as an aid to meditation. They are intended to absorb the mind in such a way that irritating thoughts have no place and the individual can reach a higher consciousness.

Amy Brown is a Tasmanian visual communicator who works with stills photography and film. She is a life adventurer with a deep curiosity about human behaviour.

Amy came to photography and image making later in life. After dipping her toes into the fields of project management and catering, she completed her BA in Journalism and Sociology in 2005. Coming from a family of filmmakers and artists finding her love of visual expression felt like coming home.

After stints working in broadcasting and print news she built her presence in and around Hobart as a freelance documentary, commercial and editorial photographer - documenting and producing stills work for clients such as Dark Lab, BighART, Fairfax Media and Cricket Tasmania. 

She has shot, directed, produced and edited a number of commercial videos and created personal film and stop motion work over the last couple of years. Her collaboration, Drawings For Gaza - with local artist Catherine Morse and funded by the City Of Hobart Creative Hobart grants program - saw children-made stop motion clips shown in Hobart and in Gaza.

After years working as a commercial image maker, Amy began moving towards more conceptual photographic practice focusing on portraiture, still life and abstract works. 

As an artist she is interested in the relationship between form, human consciousness and how humans relate to their environment. Her work features a strong use of contrasting elements where deep, vivid colours are set against monotone backgrounds and the interplay between light and dark is celebrated. Positive and negative space is well utilised and recurring explorations of symmetry and geometry produce bold images. 

Her ongoing personal project Meditate on This is an exploration of human behaviour and its affects on the natural world. By abstracting and reimagining non-biodegradable refuse, left behind by people utilising public spaces, into mandalas Amy invites the viewer to raise their own awareness of the interconnected nature of our (fragile) existence on this planet. 

Amy is currently studying a Graduate Diploma of Counselling at UTAS and is proud to be working as a mentor in BighART’s Project O program.

 She currently works in Nipaluna, Lutruwita (hobart, tasmania) and lives with her young son. 

THE LONG TERM PLAN

The Street Gallery will be a permanent fixture of the Centre and was conceived as a public art platform for the community and an opportunity for artists to share their work. Exhibited work will change every 3 months or so depending on demand. We are inviting artists living in the community who have an interest in displaying their work to also get in touch.