Takayna Forest Face, 2026
in partnership with the Bob Brown Foundation
At the beginning of 2026, Kris Paulsen and I travelled to lutruwita to join the Bob Brown Foundation annual residency ‘Art For Takayna’. I had undertaken the same residency two years prior and since that time had been fermenting an idea to return with Kris to make an artwork together.
Takayna is the largest temperate rainforest in the southern hemisphere. It is under constant threat from mining and forestry. After spending extended periods of time in the cold, damp forest, I sketched the idea of positioning a face within its canopy. I built a set of 50 modular wooden shapes to take with me, with the thought of arranging the elements to build and respond to different sites. What transpired is the culmination of walking, talking, playing and chasing the light in this enormous habitat.
I’ve come to feel a lot more at home in the dark and wet Tasmanian forest. This suite of images may be testament to that, but more importantly they give a face to the giant Takayna entity - a densely layered group of macro and micro ecosystems working together.
Takayna is speaking and we are listening.