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Nici Cumpston Born 1963, Adelaide, South Australia. Lives and Works Adelaide, South Australia Language: Barkindji I feel like I am an investigator when I go out into the bush, as I am always photographing everything I see, like I am gathering evidence. 16 Nici Cumpston, 2008 Nici Cumpston is an Australian photographic visual artist with a uniquely diverse family background of Aboriginal, Afghan, Irish and English decent. Cumpston is widely recognised for her distinctively creative style of photography in which she hand-colours camera-captured images of the Australian landscape. Prior to her exhibiting career as an artist, Cumpston put her photographic skills to use working for the South Australian Police Department, and through this workplace experience, she developed a familiarity with the process of developing colour film, which was used to document speed and red light offenses, as well as to crime scenes. 17 Cumpston utilises her knowledge of the land and her Barkindji family heritage to study and explore the landscape – by foot, through lens and by hand. Once she has captured her documentary-like images on black and white film, she will add colour directly onto the processed negatives using transparent watercolours and pencils, which will then be scanned and printed digitally onto canvas. 18 This purposeful and painstaking process infuses the subject with an artificial likeness, lending Australia’s drought-stricken landscape to a compelling and ghostly hyper-real representation. Cumpston’s large panoramic landscapes of dried-up waterways and exhausted trees are here given a new aura of life through the artist’s colourising intervention. Paroo River Warrego River Culgoa River MacIn Through her series of photographic prints from 2008-10, Cumpston has documented the deteriorating landscape of Nookamka Lake, otherwise known as Lake Bonney – a shallow catchment area connected to the Murray Darling river system in South Australia. This once pristine Bourke and flourishing environment undeniably substantiates the ineffective and neglectful farming Wilcannia methods and abusive, unsustainable water usage thatthe river systems have NSW suffered over the last two hundred years since colonisation. 19 Bourke Broken Hill The receding water levels of Nookamka have not only left behind a weary landscape of uprooted trees, but many Aboriginal artefacts and remains were exposed on dry land where they had once been concealed by water. These markings and burial grounds are evidence of the abiding customary connections Aboriginal people have had with this place for thousands of years. Cumpston’s strong connection with her Indigenous descendants and their culture has instilled in her a great deal of passion for seeking out and recording the Barkindji people’s enduring relationship with the land, and as such, her eerie and evocative landscapes of Nookamka are Adelaide SA Adelaide SA Lake Bonney Broken Hill Lake Bonney Mildura Mildura Wilcannia VIC VIC Darling River Darling River Murray River Paroo River Hay Murray River Hay Warrego River Murrumbidgee River Murrumbidgee River Albury NSW Lachlan River Wagga Wagga Culgoa River Albury Lachlan River Cowra MacIntyre River Boggabilla Toomelah Wagga Wagga Cowra Sydney about people as they are about place. Though the recorded effects of drought and water mismanagement have potentially starved Nookamka beyond rescue, Cumpston’s careful colouration appears to restore the landscape with a quiet dignity, and what remains in the space between real and imagined is a sense of responsibility and remorse for the memory of a vanishing place and its people. Above: Map of Nookamka Lake, otherwise known as Lake Bonney, a shallow catchment area connected to the Murray Darling river system in South Australia. 16 Tess Allas, ‘Nici Cumpston’, Dictionary of Australian Artists Online 2008, accessed 21/05/2010, . 17 Ibid. 18 Artist’s statement, ‘Our People – Nici Cumpston’ University of South Australia News, accessed 21/05/2010, . 19 Keith Munro, ‘Nici Cumpston’, In the Balance: Art for a Changing World, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2010, p.62 16
PRIMARY Thinking about it (K-2) Look at the trees in Nici’s photographs. How do you imagine they are feeling Why do you think they are feeling that way Choose a tree in one of the artworks and write a story from its point of view. (3-6) The absence of water is the main issue being addressed by Nici’s large-scale images of Lake Bonney. If a lot of the Lake’s water supply is missing, what else do you think is missing from these landscapes What kind of plants and animals rely on water to survive and are therefore absent from these images Making it Using simple craft materials, like cardboard, create a photo-shaped viewfinder to explore your local landscape and waterways. Much like the way Nici uses her camera to capture a landscape image, use your viewfinder to ‘frame’ your landscape image, then draw it onto white paper using lead pencil. Then fill in this black and white image with colour, using pencils, textas, watercolours and collage materials to create a multi-layered landscape of different colours and textures. In groups or as a class, research the history of Lake Bonney and how it has changed over the many years since European settlement. Create an illustrated timeline of Lake Bonney’s history, including any recent attempts to improve the environmental conditions of the Lake, as well as any future plans for development. SECONDARY Thinking about it (7-9) Lake Bonney, like many other regions along the Murray Darling River system, has been significantly altered since European settlement due to the effects of drainage schemes and other environmental impacts. Research the history of Lake Bonney, including its previous recreational uses, poor water management schemes, local sources of pollution and causes for degradation. How does this inform your understanding of Cumpston’s two prints, Cultural landscape – Nookamka I & Nookamka III What ideas does the title ‘Cultural landscape’ bring to mind (10-12) Take a close look at Campsite, Nookamka Lake V (2010) and Scar tree, Nookamka Lake (2008). The process involved in making these images is highly detailed and complex. Compare and contrast Cumpston’s artistic practice of hand-colouring black and white negatives and printing digitally onto canvas with the process of colour photography printed onto photographic paper. What are the differences in both the material and conceptual effect How does the artist’s chosen process add meaning Making it In pairs or groups, research different ways in which the landscape of Lake Bonney may be rescued or revitalised. Discover some of the principles of ecologically sustainable development and research various government projects that aim to increase biodiversity, improve environmental management and provide sustainable water management schemes. Create a large-scale landscape image that depicts Lake Bonney in 20 years time under your sustainable waterways plan, including the changes you would have implemented and their long-term environmental benefits. Using your local knowledge of your area, create a body of work that explores the environmental degradation of a location, area or region that is important to you or your family. How would you depict the landscape in order to draw attention to its ecological mismanagement 17
Page 2 and 3: Introduction to this resource This
Page 4 and 5: Themes in the exhibition In the Bal
Page 6 and 7: Badger Bates We did that (tradition
Page 8 and 9: PRIMARY Thinking about it (K-2) Tak
Page 10 and 11: Lauren Berkowitz Born 1965, Melbour
Page 12 and 13: Diego Bonetto Diego Bonetto Weedyco
Page 14 and 15: PRIMARY Thinking about it (K-2) Wha
Page 18 and 19: Janet Laurence Janet Laurence Cellu
Page 22 and 23: James Newitt My primary aim is to i
Page 24 and 25: Jeanne van Heeswijk Jeanne van Hees
Page 28: Acknowledgements Education resource

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