My work with driftwood assemblages and sculptures began in 1998 and has continues to be a major part of my creative output. An article described these driftwood assemblages, which I exhibited in a solo show in Australia in early 2004, as having been created with: “A sheer depth and determination…Including, death-defying moments grabbing the perfect piece of wood.”
It is true I would be seen scavenging beaches in search of plastics, specific colours and sizes. I was also known for venturing along the edge of Victoria alone in search of driftwood. Boat trips to islands, long drives along four-wheel-drive tracks and scaling 40 meter-high cliffs were all part of the process.
This all sounds exciting and possibly a bit unbelievable, however it is quite true that I would often find myself in dangerous situations.
I remember one time I had walked about 2 kilometers ahead of my brother, who had joined me for a driftwood gathering expedition and I wasn’t able to walk Any further around the rocks, because the tide was up and I could see that there are quite a few choice pieces of driftwood in the next cove. So I decided to climb up over some rocks and proceeded to do this in pretty nimble sort of way, as I move fairly fast over rocks, anyway there was a ledge with a drop of about 1 m, which I needed to swing myself up to get to the top of the hill which overlooked the cove.
Little did I know that as I swung myself up onto this ledge, there was to be a big brown snake (the deadly variety) curled up there. I don’t know whether it was a gentle way that I was moving, but instead of that Brown snake rearing its head up an attacking me, it simply found the quickest and easiest way off the rock away from where I stood. There simply wasn’t enough room for the both of us. I thank that snake to this day for the decision it took.
If it had decided to bite by attacking me, I would have been in serious trouble. My brother would not have known the trouble I was in and it would have been very difficult for me to move in his direction without causing myself serious problems. I probably would have had a very good chance of not surviving.
