Gaia Heart’s artist residency was cut short when Covid-19 forced the Lismore Regional Gallery to close.

The 20 year old Nimbin local had been half way through a great residency experience – having secured a coveted position she was lucky enough to be awarded at her final TAFE visual art exhibition.

“I was there for two weeks before the gallery had to be closed,” Gaia said. “I felt great there.”

Gaia was chosen out of 15 exhibiting student artists as part of the inaugural residency program – a partnership between TAFE and the local gallery.

“The day the gallery told me, it was a shock,” she said.

“I had a space to work for a month and get to know people in the gallery and talk to the curators.”

Gaia Heart with Joy in Paradox. Oil on Board. 2019 ©

Gaia has always made art. She spent most of her childhood on Siddah Farm/Lilifield community near Nimbin and has always had an innate love of life and nature.

“My name is Gaia Heart – it’s a responsibility,” she said. "I think a lot of people have hope that their children will help save the earth in this time of crisis."

"Mum and dad were pretty alternative, Gaia was originally my middle name, but when I was four I said 'I think I'm just Gaia'. I was very forthright as a kid and knew what I wanted."

Then seven years ago, when her family moved to their own property near Nimbin with a view of Blue knob - landscape became the central inspiration for her art.

"I love the landscape of rolling hills, dotted with trees - their shadows extending over the curvature of the land," she said.

"I have always felt that we're living in tumultuous times environmentally - the way that capitalist consumerist culture is impacting our world.

Before the Rain.

It was the journey between Nimbin and Lismore that inspired the work she was creating for TAFE and as part of her residency at the Lismore Regional Gallery.

“I love the landscape of rolling hills, trees dotted over them and shadows,” she said. “It’s interesting how beautiful how such a damaged landscape can be.

“You can find joy in something completely stripped of its natural beauty. It’s regrowth farming land, but it still has the ability to pull you out of your and body and give you a broader sense of experience.”

“I always felt we lived in tumultuous times for the environment – with the way individuals are living.

“We need to find a way to find that balance and live in symbiosis again – not abusing the earth completely – the earth is our home and our house is on fire.”

Sun Storms, Oil on Board. 2020 ©

Fires last year

"It was a very concerning time during the bush fires last year" she said.

“I was in the middle of creating my body of work and the fires were coming.

“So I stopped my work and spent a week clearing dry leaves around the house, nailing tin around bottom of house and putting sprinklers on roof.

“It was intense and I was feeling for forest which burnt – it was devastating for the animals.

"I'm a sensitive person and it was heart breaking seeing everything burn, and worrying about peoples homes - but I knew the rain would come eventually."

The Dream. Etching 2019

Residency

“When I was at the gallery, I had a few oil paintings going at once,” she said.

“The hills to me symbolise life itself - the ebb and flow, ups and downs, shadows and light - I am addicted to them.

"I did one painting exploring the landscape before the rain, where the land was yellow and dry, and another depicting the green that follows rain - green hills and dark stormy skies."

"I enjoyed having the space to make art without other distraction. Its an internal experience. Going into your own mind and reflecting what you see"

“There’s a Margaret Atwood quote I like – ‘The main problem writers face is not writer’s block, it’s being interrupted’.

Change. Etching 2019. 

Travel

When Gaia’s residency was abruptly stopped, it was the final weeks in the lead up to a long awaited overseas trip, where she was about to fly to Paris.

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen – I’d never been overseas before and I had an eight month trip planned – so I had to make a weird readjustment.”

“I was going to meet my older sister for the first time in France as well as see other parts of the world.

"We live in an insular, alternative bubble here and I'd like to step out of that and experience something new - but now is clearly not the time for travel.

“I’d like to look into other residencies in Europe and new environments – I applied for in Norway already, on a little island nature based project.

“I’m sure it can still happen.

“I’m young and feel I haven’t found what I want to do – my style is evolving quickly.

“I identify with my work but it’s not me – it can change and come out in different ways depending on what I do.”

Detail of Sun Storms.

Covid-19

While Covid-19 affected her residency, Gaia said she won’t let it change her artistic creativity.

"Some people have been finding positivity in what we are experiencing with this pandemic, that its allowing us the space to reassess how we are living and what we value in life. People might feel they have time to think more deeply," she said.

"I feel that I have always felt a little lost - with a kind of constant uncertainty about what to use my life for.

"I've been trying to be present, enjoying the experience of making art - expressing whatever comes up.

"These times we are living in can be very unsettling.

"When I find myself too caught up in my mind, I take a step back - often I'll go for a walk in nature to remember where I am.

"I'm using this time and lack of interruption to find a balance between thought and experience.

"I often listen to philosophy and science podcasts while i paint larger works during the day - and utilise the quiet of the night time hours to write and sketch from my mind -with pen and watercolours.

"To be engrossed within an idea from thought through to materialisation is a crucial part of my practice.

If you want to find out more about Gaia’s art, you can find her Instagram at golly_gaia.

Journal Sketch. Watercolour and Gouache. © 2020