Birdguides was exhibited at M16 Artspace in Canberra from October 1 to 27, 2024. The work explores ecological relationships, giving voice to our more-than-human kin and challenging the anthropocentric view. Through this connection with birds and their habitats, Birdguides invites viewers to see the natural world from a new perspective.
In 2024, I embarked on a two-month artist residency at Le Jardin Botanique in France, supported by Arts SA, which enabled me to focus my research on botanical inks and heritage apple varieties. My time in London, Paris, and Marnay-sur-Seine allowed me to engage with conservation experts, botanical collections, and local specialists, which shaped new works that explore species loss and environmental themes. Alongside developing my practice in sculpture and installation, I led workshops in cyanotype printmaking, collaborated with international artists, and exhibited a body of work inspired by my research. This residency has enriched my practice, extended my professional network, and provided invaluable momentum for future projects.
In 2022, the artworks from Flight, An Illustrated Notebook of Bird Life and Loss were first exhibited at the Hamra Auditorium Gallery for SALA, alongside the book launch. In 2023, the South Australian Museum invited me to showcase this work throughout September and October for Biodiversity Month and the Nature Festival. The Flight exhibition reflects on themes of bird life, extinction, and ecological loss, stemming from my conservation work on Captain Samuel Albert White’s historic bird egg collection, which documented species once abundant in Adelaide’s Reedbeds but now largely lost to urbanisation. Inspired by this conservation project, my mother, historian and artist Viv Szekeres, and I developed Flight to honour these vanished species and to underscore the need for environmental preservation. This exhibition celebrates the beauty of native birdlife and calls for renewed responsibility toward protecting what remains.
Following my degree, I was invited to collaborate with the South Australian Museum and Artlab Australia on conserving labels for a historic egg collection, where I trained in paper conservation and began researching iron gall ink. This sparked a four-year research project and led to the publication of Flight, An Illustrated Notebook of Bird Life and Loss, bridging art and natural history. Since then, I’ve continued experimenting with medieval iron gall ink recipes, presenting my findings as a fusion of conservation and contemporary art to the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material and the British Library. This collaboration has been invaluable to the growth of my practice and professional network.
My Honours research year focused on eco-arts practice, exploring habitat and species loss and challenging anthropocentric perspectives to foster a deeper connection with the natural world. Integrating methodologies from practice-led research, post-human feminism, and new materialism, I investigated themes of absence, memory, and environmental stewardship through fieldwork, birdwatching, and botanical ink-making. This work culminated in the immersive presentation Tree Maps for Birds, which extended my expertise in natural ink practices and deepened my engagement with eco-arts, laying a foundation for future research and collaboration with the Peramangk community.
