record

Thesis Info

LABS ID
00899
Thesis Title
Biochromes: Perceptions of Australian Medicinal Plants through Experimental Photography
Author
Renata Buziak
2nd Author
3rd Author
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Year
2016
Number of Pages
201
University
Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
Thesis Supervisor
Assoc. Prof Marian Drew and Dr Rosemary Hawker
Supervisor e-mail
m.drew@griffith.edu.au , r.hawker@griffith.edu.au
Other Supervisor(s)
Language(s) of Thesis
English
Department / Discipline
Fine Art Photography
Copyright Ownership
Renata Buziak
Languages Familiar to Author
English, Polish
URL where full thesis can be found
research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/366679
Keywords
Photography, Aboriginal knowledge, indigenous medicinal plants, Quandamooka, Minjerribah, North Stradbaroke Island, Australia, biochromes, experimental photography, cameraless, art-science, art, fine art, works on paper, time-lapse, natural processes, nat
Abstract: 200-500 words
This practice-led visual arts research project uses photography to represent medicinal plants of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), and provides a visual articulation of the actions of decay and regeneration. It draws on natural science and extensive consultations and discussions with members of the Quandamooka community of Minjerribah. I have a particular interest in medicinal plants that stems from my childhood spent growing up in the small town of Janów Lubelski in Southeast Poland. My grandmother had a special knowledge of making infusions from local herbs, and remedies from twigs and berries. In an effort to find a sense of belonging in Australia, I brought this experience of Polish folk medicine into my new locale alongside my ecological concerns for maintaining biodiversity and preserving the natural environment. Focusing on medicinal plants from Minjerribah, this research project is grounded in field trips, and the long process of building precious relationships with the local Quandamooka Peoples. This research emphasises the importance of the protocols and processes involved in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the respectful treatment of cultural property, and the productive outcomes of sharing stories. I have learned much from my regular visits with Minjerribah residents and from literature about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their knowledge systems, traditions, and the significance of their connection to country, particularly in relation to plant culture. My studio practice consists of works on paper and time-lapse video. I make images based on the fusion of organic and photographic materials in a process of decomposition that I name the biochrome. The images are generated through bacterial micro-organic activity encouraged by arranging plant samples on photographic emulsions and allowing them to transform during cyclic decay and regeneration. Informed by the history of art and of botanical illustration, ethnobotany, medicinal plants databases, and basic microbiology, the work centres on the organic action of decomposition as traced by photography. Contemporary artists whose works share similar investigations into generative organic processes include Daro Montag, Jennifer Wightman, and Matthew Brandt, and I discuss their work in some detail. The process of developing images through decomposition led me to work with time-lapse photography. The time-lapse videos record the blossoming and movement of fungi and microbes. This focus also drew my attention to artists who work with elements of time in photography, among them the nineteenth-century pioneers of the moving image, such as Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey, and contemporary artists who work with time-based decay, such as Sam Taylor-Wood and Bill Morrison. Using the experimental biochrome process, while drawing on Western scientific data and Aboriginal knowledge, this visual art research aims to extend appreciation and understanding of Australia’s natural history. This project invites audiences to more closely consider the history and value of Australian healing plants through a reconfiguration of botanical illustration to include images of decomposition that allude to cyclic regeneration. This photographic documentation of the metamorphosis of decomposition creates a visual metaphor for the transformative action of medicinal plants. This aesthetic conversation between the external forms and internal processes of decomposing plants aims to increase audience engagement and understanding of the value of specific plants, which in turn, works to support and preserve traditional knowledge, natural environments and biodiversity.