News Bulletin - Australian Animal Studies Group

Rew Hanks
Defoliation. Hand coloured linocut
Artist Statement
During an artist residency at Taronga Zoo I visited the floral clock that was first installed at the zoo
in 1928. Bordering the clock is a hedge of Maidenhair vine that features three topiary animals―a
kangaroo, emu and elephant. A balding horticulturist maliciously manicured these topiary animals
as if determined to bring them to life.
The residency coincided with the 50 th anniversary of Jane Goodall‘s research of the Chimpanzees
of Gombe, Tanzania in Africa. The Goodall Institute supports the welfare and conservation of the
Great Apes: chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Taronga Zoo has a healthy breeding group of
Western Lowland Gorillas. The magnificent leader of the group is the male ―Silverback‖ which can
weigh nearly 200kg and stand 1.8 metres in height. However it was the matriarch Mouila born in
1972 that is depicted in this handcoloured linocut. As the primary and most experienced caregiver,
she was both calm and wise.
Unfortunately 90 percent of West African‘s original forest has already been lost to deforestation.
Unless we adopt Mouila‘s wonderful qualities of calmness and wisdom we may be left maintaining
a garden of ghostly topiary animals as a tragic reminder of our past.
For more works from Rew Hanks recent exhibition The Devil‘s Garden see Watters Gallery website:
http://www.wattersgallery.com
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