CONFLUENCE

CRAFT ACT: CRAFT + DESIGN CENTRE
CONFLUENCE
Artist-in-residence
2021
VALERIE KIRK AM | HARRIET SCHWARZROCK

CRAFT ACT
2021 ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
Valerie Kirk AM
Harriet Schwarzrock
LOCATIONS
Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage, Namadgi
National Park, Australian Capital Territory
Geoscience Australia
RESIDENCY PARTNER (SINCE 2006)
ACT Parks and Conservation Service
2021 RESEARCH PARTNER
Geoscience Australia
CRAFT ACT RESIDENCY TEAM
Jodie Cunningham (CEO + Artistic Director)
Meagan Jones (Assistant Director)
Welly McGarry (Gallery + Retail Manager)
PUBLIC PROGRAM
Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage open day
24 April 2021
EXHIBITION
CONFLUENCE
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
7 July-27 August 2022
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre acknowledges the
Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the
ACT and surrounding areas. We honour and respect
their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this
country and the contribution they make to the life of this
city and region. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples that have made
Canberra their home and we aim to respect cultural
heritage, customs and beliefs of all Indigenous peoples.
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
Level 1 North Building
180 London Circuit, Canberra
www.craftact.org.au
T (02) 6262 9333
Craft ACT shop + gallery hours
Tuesday to Friday 10am–5pm
Saturday 12–4 pm
Publisher: Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
Graphic Design Template: Amy Cox
Printing: Bytes ‘n Colours
ABN: 33 314 092 587
© Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre 2022
Cover image: Harriet Schwarzrock and Valerie Kirk at
Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot Photography
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Jodie Cunningham, CEO + Artistic Director,
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
4-5
PATTERNS IN NATURE
Peter Cotsell, Regional Manager Southern Parks ACT,
ACT Parks & Conservation Service
8-9
ANCIENT ROCKS & LIFE
Steven Petkovski, Curator, National Mineral & Fossil Collection
Geoscience Australia
ESSAY: CONFLUENCE
Penny Caswell
12-13
18-22
ARTISTS’ REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
Valerie Kirk AM
Harriet Schwarzrock
23-29
ARTISTS: STATEMENTS AND BIOGRAPHIES
Valerie Kirk AM
Harriet Schwarzrock
30-37
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
38-42
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INTRODUCTION
Jodie Cunningham, CEO + Artistic Director, Craft
ACT: Craft + Design Centre
Confluence, the meeting of two - a place where
collaboration and innovation merge to create space to
honour and pursue creativity.
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is delighted to
present the outcomes of another wonderful year of
our Artists-in-Residence program, a rich collaboration
with ACT Parks & Conservation and, our research
partner in 2021, Geo Science Australia. The strength
of the Artist-in-Residency program lies in the complex
collaboration between institutions, governing bodies,
artists, the landscape, craft and design. The threads
of interconnection and spirit of collaboration shape
innovation and provide value - contributing to
community wellbeing and identity.
invigorating their creative spirits and generating new
artistic direction.
My heartfelt thanks goes to our 2021 artists, Valerie
and Harriet, whose exhibition showcases the spirit of
the Artist-in-Residency program: a unique experience
building collaboration, fostering innovation, and
championing the intrinsic value of the arts. Their
significant contribution to the creative life of Canberra
and Australian culture, helps us to embed craft and
design at the centre of everyday life.
Thank you also to our freelance writer, Penny Craswell,
for her wonderful exhibition essay that give us an insight
into the process and works of art.
This year’s program features the work of artists Valerie
Kirk and Harriet Schwarzrock who engaged in a two-part
project, involving research at Geo Science Australia
and reflection in Namadji National Park. After delving
into the hidden treasures of Geo Science’s National
Mineral and Fossil Collection; Valerie and Harriet spent
time in Namadgi National Park’s Gudgenby Ready-Cut
Cottage, exploring and making art; taking with them a
deeper understanding of the geological attributes of the
landscape, which engendered new ways of looking and
creatively engaging with the environment.
Our sincere gratitude to our Artist-in-Residency partners
Geo Science Australia and ACT Parks and Conservation,
particularly Dr. Steven Hill, Dr. James Johnson, Steven
Petkovski, Natalie Schroeder, Brett McNamara, Melissa
Barton, Peter Cotsell, and Wade Young.
And finally thank you to the incredible team at Craft ACT
- the board, staff, artist members and partners.
The resulting exhibition CONFLUENCE embodies the
essence of the Artist-in-Residency program showcasing
the profound impact of sustained immersion in
the collections of Geo Science Australia and the
environment of Namadgi National Park on the work of
both artists. Exploring new ideas, research, and material
the residency gave space and time for the artists to
experiment, explore, and develop a deeper relationship
with the landscape, their practice, and themselves –
Page 4-7: Open day at Ready-Cut Cottage, 2021.
Photos: 5 Foot Photography
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PATTERNS IN NATURE
Peter Cotsell, Regional Manager Southern Parks
ACT, ACT Parks & Conservation Service
Residency partner since 2006
We are all custodians of the world’s protected areas – but
are we clear about our roles, the decisions we can make
and what we can do to help protect them during the
short time we have here. Global leaders are setting goals
and targets to address climate change, green advocacy
groups are actively lobbying for change and local
champions are working in national parks and reserves,
installing solar panels, planting trees and simply turning
off lights and walking instead of driving to the local
shops. How do we know though that what we do
will directly help protect our streams, our corroboree
frogs, brush tail rock wallabies and the precious alpine
bogs that give life to small mammals and crustaceans,
and cleanse the water that makes our morning cup of
coffee taste so good! Simple answer is that we don’t
know. We are navigating our way through a period of
mass transition where glaciers are melting faster than
ever and we are experiencing intense, unseasonal and
unprecedented weather events. We don’t know what’s
next! But locally, and right now we are experiencing a
landscape in full recovery. Science is telling us many of
our endemic species are recolonising areas experiencing
prolific growth and rejuvenation. The catchment is
at 100% saturation, the rivers are flowing and the
lyrebirds in the valleys and mimicking! So is it time for
us to rejoice? A few extra minutes in a hot shower, the
convenience of a car or the 15c plastic bag in Coles. No!
The decision you make today should be the one we
commit to the future - a commitment to remove one
small threat, a plastic bag or a ton of carbon, that will
give our protected areas the best chance of survival and
the ability to transition into naturally whatever comes
next.
Artists are custodians of the past, they bring us into
the moment and are conduits that bring medium to
meaning. What are your roles in helping us protect
Namadgi and the world’s protected area network.
Page 9: Namadgi National Park, 2021. Photo: 5 Foot
Photography
Page 10-11: Harriet Schwarzrock, Jennifer Kemarre
Martiniello, Sharon Peoples and Valerie Kirk at open day,
2021. Photo: 5 Foot Photography
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ANCIENT ROCKS & LIFE:
Steven Petkovski, Curator, National Mineral & Fossil
Collection
Geoscience Australia
2021 Craft ACT Research Partner
A science-oriented organisation like Geoscience
Australia may seem like an unlikely collaborator for Craft
ACT’s artist-in-residence program. However, as scientists
we utilise physical and digital information to draw
conclusions on our history and significance to better
understand the past and through that, the future. In this
we have a shared purpose to artists, who translate and
give meaning to places and experiences across space
and time, helping us understand the world around us.
It was an absolute privilege to host and collaborate
with these two very talented artists and watch them be
inspired by our Earth science research and our National
Mineral and Fossil Collection – which hosts over 60,000
specimens dating back over the past 100 years.
Valerie and Harriet were excited to see and experience
our extensive collection of fossils, minerals, gemstones,
meteorites, rock samples and historical items. It was
a particular highlight taking them to explore the
Woolshed Creek A.C.T fossil site, where a 427 million
old, well-preserved and diverse fossilised animal
community now lies almost 600 metres above sea level.
Both artists also took advantage of our extensive rock
thin section collection to view wafer thin slivers of
rocks from Namadgi under the microscope up to 200x
magnification.
Valerie’s interest in palaeobotany made it especially
wonderful to share with her some of the gorgeous plant
fossils amassed over the decades by researchers such
as Dr Mary White which demonstrate Australia’s ancient
past when we were once part of the super-continent of
Gondwanaland. It was a real pleasure showing Harriet
our fluorescent minerals which explode into bright and
vivid colours under ultraviolet light – not unlike the
incredible colours in some of her works of art.
The team at Geoscience Australia have learnt so much
from watching Valerie and Harriet explore and interpret
our scientific work and collections with a fresh new
perspective. As a scientist it can be easy to forget the
way other people might respond to the mysteries of
geoscience, but Valerie and Harriet were able to show us
new ways to understand and appreciate the treasures
that we work with every day. Watching them take their
inspiration from our collection and turn that into works
of art has been an honour.
The future and value of geoscience can only be realised
if Australians know about and engage with the work that
we do. As the nations trusted advisor on the geology
and geography of Australia and the custodians of the
National Mineral and Fossil Collection, we strive to make
Earth Science available to all Australians. The artwork
produced by Valerie and Harriet through this program
transforms geoscience and natural history specimens
into accessible, tangible, and thought-provoking objects.
We thank them both for allowing us to see into their
worlds, and for entering ours with such grace and joy.
Page 12-16: Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot Photography
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CONFLUENCE
An Essay By Penny Craswell
An artist’s residency has a particular power that comes
from a confluence of different factors. There’s the
location – often just being in a different place can
give you a new perspective. Then there’s time – the
purposeful clearing of schedules can have a big impact
when it comes to the pursuit of creativity. Then there’s
company – learning and inspiration can come from
interesting conversations with people you meet on a
residency. And the combination of these three factors
– a new location, time to think and work, and new
conversations – can have a fundamental change on an
artist’s practice and work.
For textile artist Valerie Kirk and glass artist Harriet
Schwarzrock, the 2021 Craft ACT Artist-in-Residence
program gave them the opportunity to spend three
weeks at the Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage in Namadgi
National Park, bookended by time spent at Geoscience
Australia. The cottage was built in 1927 and has been
the site of the Craft ACT Artist-in-Residence program
since 2006. It is located within the stunning landscape
of the national park, about 30km south of the Namadgi
Visitor Centre. “I love being in the National Park,” says
Valerie Kirk. “I’ve been there several times before, but I
realised there was a lot more I wanted to explore.” Harriet
Schwarzrock says: “We had the luxury of the time and
space to walk in almost any direction. It felt like we were
very remote, which is, in itself, a treat.”
with more than 80 per cent of the Namadgi National Park
burned and then two days of pouring rain doing even
more damage. It had a particularly fascinating effect on
the boulders, with the fire scorching and cracking the
granodiorite rock with such high temperatures that,
in some places, the rock has sheared off a layer like an
onion skin. “The fires created such destruction,” says
Harriet. “It laid bare the landscape and you were made
aware of the geology because of the fires.”
The three weeks that the two artists spent in a cottage
were productive and harmonious. After spending the
first couple of days walking and talking, the two artists
fell into a rhythm of walking and working alone during
the day and coming together in the evenings. They
took it in turn to cook dinner, while the other made
the fire, then they ate, talked and worked together in
the evenings. “We would both be working with some
conversation and exchange of ideas,” says Valerie. “We
respected each other’s space and had quiet times and
interaction.”
In this part of Namadgi, granite outcrops and overhangs
are a significant geological presence in the landscape.
The 2019–2020 fires had a significant impact on the land,
Page 18: Valerie Kirk OAM, Rocks and Namadgi, 2022. Photo:
Fiona Bowring
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As well as living together in the cottage, the time at
Geoscience Australia also had an important influence on
the work of both artists. There were two days of lectures
and talks at the beginning of the residency, then another
period of time when they could go anywhere they
liked, look at the collection and talk to staff. Both artists
were able to spend time looking through Geoscience’s
extensive National Mineral and Fossil Collection. This
experience, both before and after the residency in
Namadgi, can be seen in the works that the artists
created on returning home.
Valerie Kirk has created four major tapestries, the largest
of which has a lower section depicting plant fossils and
specimens from the Mary White collection at Geoscience
Australia and her book, Australia’s Fossil Plants. The
tapestry’s middle section has plants in white on green,
which references vintage educational charts and a strip
at the top shows a panorama view from Gudgenby valley
to the hills and mountains on the horizon.
A second, vertical tapestry to the right continues this
panoramic view at the top, while the rest of the work is a
representation of rocks found in the park. “Usually when
preparing to weave, I would make a detailed drawing
then enlarge this to full scale as a digital print that sits
behind the warps as a guide for weaving, but this time,
there was nothing behind the warp – the rocks were
on the floor of the studio and I was weaving from them
directly, just trusting my intuition.”
The last two, long thin vertical tapestries to the left of
the centrepiece are of the same landscape at night and
in the day. The tall narrow shape of the tapestries is
inspired by the core samples of rock that are found in the
Geoscience Australia collection.
Harriet Schwarzrock has created three works as a result
of the residency, one a series of drawings, one of small
copper sculptures and one of glass and mixed media.
The drawings were made on site at the cottage. One
rainy day, Harriet began mark making on large square
format paper using long free strokes of ink and then
putting these out in the rain to see how they weathered.
Video of the raindrops on paper show how the water
makes the ink bleed, while the sound they make is very
pleasing.
A second series of small copper sculptures was directly
inspired by the copper specimens at Geoscience.
Harriet brought to the cottage some reclaimed copper
wire mesh, which she pulled apart in her ‘un-weaving’
pieces, works also inspired by the burnt landscape of
Namadgi. Her third body of work is a combination of
made and found pieces including neon text, reading
‘Impermanence’, ‘Tenuous’ and ‘Transitory’ in neon (made
by Steven Cole) and then combined with a variety of
materials in a box, prompted by the way the specimens
at Geoscience are boxed up.
Interestingly, both artists specialise in a form of art that
is difficult to transport on residencies – Valerie creates
tapestries using large looms, while Harriet is a glass artist
who needs specialised equipment to create work. This
meant that both artists were returned to the basics of
their art practice – to thinking, to conceptual work, to
drawing or mark-making, or working with materials, like
copper wire, that are more transportable.
In Valerie’s work, this can be seen in the depth of
ideas that inspired the final work – the time that she
spent in research, reflection, drawing, note-taking and
cataloguing has all informed her final works. For Harriet,
the residency gave her the impetus and inspiration to
work in mediums other than glass art, including ink on
paper and metal sculpture, but also mixed media with
glass. In the end, both artists have created extraordinary
works drawing on the beauty of the bush and what they
learned about geology, but also on universal themes of
deep time and landscape as place.
Page 21: Harriet Schwarzrock, Impermanence, 2021. Photo:
Brenton McGeachie
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VALERIE KIRK AM
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The appeal of a residency is a deep immersion in a
new, stimulating environment to discover, learn and
completely focus on experiential learning and creative
development. Carving time away from everyday life frees
up thinking and making space. The usual lists, demands.
and commitments are left behind and each day of the
residency becomes more focussed as I concentrate on
the project. In this way the time as an Artist in Residence
is a precious gift and a great privilege.
In the first and final parts of the residency I explored
the collections at Geoscience Australia, learned about
the earth and its vast history through maps, satellite
photos, core samples, specimens, aerial and underwater
photography, artists’ impressions, scientific illustration,
views through microscopes, the library, data collection
and analysis. The days were filled with introductions to
areas of the organisation and the people with specialised
skills and knowledge. From viewing macro bulk storage
(vast areas holding the collection) to seeing the thinsection
microscope slides, the experience was revealing
and so stimulating.
Behind a door with the sign, National Mineral and Fossil
Collection, lies a Wunderkammer of micro fossils, bones
from megafauna, Antarctic rock, silicon impressions,
plaster casts, 3 D printing and actual specimens.
Within the giant Compactus drawers the Gardner and
Bruce Barnes thumbnail gemstone collections were
immediately captivating – a world of minerals in pieces
no bigger than your thumb nail, carefully presented and
labelled, drawing the eye in to examine and wonder at
the shapes, colour, lustre, transparency and structures.
There I found my special place and in quiet times on
my own I selected rocks, gemstones and fossils to make
observation studies.
Through my interest in fossils we visited Woolshed Creek
with its exposed beds of ancient marine fossils in Middle
Silurian mudstone, part of the Canberra Formation.
The casual walker could easily miss the brachiopods,
trilobites, pelecypods, corals and bryozoan fossils, but
guided by Geoscience Australia experts and down on
hands and knees the ancient world from 427 – 433
million years ago was revealed.
In the first week at Namadgi National Park, I had the
dilemma of how best to spend the precious time there
– walking and exploring? Drawing and recording? Or
settling and making? By week 2 the days had developed
a rhythm of going out through the day, stopping to
draw and make notes, take in the long vistas and close
up details, eagles circling above, grasses and withering
plants in autumn below my feet.
With freedom to work spontaneously, I experimented
with Gelli prints using grasses and leaves, charcoal
rubbings from burnt tree trunks and immediate, playful
weaving of colour and land texture on a small frame.
In the evenings, with the fire providing warmth, I could
settle at a table covered with a small collection of rocks,
feathers, dried plants and art materials. I reflected in a
sketchbook on the day and speculated about possible
ideas and new works. Studying maps, books and objects
I worked on more detailed watercolour, pen and ink and
mixed media pieces.
Image: Valerie Kirk at Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot
Photography
Page 24-25: Valerie Kirk’s photos at Geoscience Australia. Photos:
Courtesy of the artist
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A special early morning ritual was sitting on the front
porch, rugged up with hot tea watching the valley come
to life as the sun came up over the mountains, kangaroos
grazing nearby and sometimes the dingos coming down
the slope on the other side of the creek. With pastels
and small strips of paper I quickly tried to capture the
changing light as the mist rolled away.
My favourite discovery was an area where Hospital and
Boboyan (Dry) creeks meet. Here two geological areas
meet with rocks that have been washed and tumbled
clearly showing the Granodiorite of one area and the
Sandstone, Slate, Chert, Limestone and Quartzite of
the adjacent area. Playfully I picked up and arranged
a sample of shapes, colours and sizes, thinking about
British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy and his ephemeral
works in the environment.
In the last days at Namadgi National Park ideas were
coming together and I raced against the clock to
complete wax resist and Indian ink drawings looking
from the back of the cottage towards Yankee Hat, do
larger rubbings of rock surfaces to draw plant fossils on
and notate the shapes of the dried out plants on the
ground. I worked quickly on collages and gathered the
information I needed to take back to the studio to start a
new body of work.
The residency combining time at Geoscience Australia
and Namadgi National Park provided the perfect match.
From the obvious links in rocks and geology, I discovered
more specific interests in the immense expanse of time
before us, the changing seasons, night and day – shifting
and changing land. Being present, aware and curious
gave me fresh inspiration, joy in discovery and the
rewards of creating new work.
As I sadly packed to leave and locked the gate to
Gudgenby Cottage I felt brimming full of possibility.
Through the heightened experience I took with me a
renewed sense of connection to our natural world and
the people who have lived on the land and travelled here
before us.
I felt again the freedom I had as a child in the Southern
Upland hills of Scotland – being able to roam, absorb
everything around me and reconnect with art, science
and nature. But this is a different land that I inhabit now
and I have so much more to learn. Like the Bogong moth,
I hope to keep returning.
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HARRIET SCHWARZROCK
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
I wish to pay my deep respects to the traditional
custodians of this region, the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal
and Ngambri elders past and present, acknowledging
their connection to the land and waters. This artistresidency
holds a dream-like quality of in-between-ness,
overarched with a spirit of generosity. I am grateful to
the different rhythms afforded by with these varied
experiences.
I learnt more about light than I expected, and the
relationships between atmospheric conditions of how
matter is changed by physical processes. At Geoscience
I was able to experiment with UV light, revealing the
fluorescent minerals in the in the darkened collection
space. Witnessing the transformation from darkness
to an other-worldly glow. I had the properties of
polarisation and birefringence explained, so that I could
momentarily understand the magical characteristics that
I witnessed within the delicate slivers of stone. Where
sections of boulders from the Namadgi region, polished
into ‘slides that contain a very thin section of a rock. The
section is approximately 30 µm thick, so thin that light
can pass through the rock when it is examined under a
microscope’ . Set upon an illuminated background and
greatly magnified, their earthly kaleidoscopic beauty
held me enthralled. Imagine gazing through seemingly
solid material to see iridescent, delicate, and ephemeral
structures.
At Namadgi I walked upon that same material. After
driving through the fire ravaged landscape, where the
extremes in temperature split the boulders, cleaving
them asunder, their onion peel shards piercing the
earth, we arrived at the oasis around the cottage. I
was struck by how the Rangers spoke about fire as an
agent of change . That despite devastation, there is
transformation. Explaining that even the trees exhibit a
particular type of circular epicormic growth in response
to such catastrophic fire events.
Frederick Chapman and Irene Crespin .
At Namadgi I walked from dark, through fog into the
dawn, drinking in the solitude and the shifting light.
Early one morning I found myself undeniably yet
exquisitely lost in a bright white inescapable light. But
it was at the other end of the day that I worked to bring
glimpses of neon into the landscape, reflecting upon the
devastating fire damage this region suffered. I waited
till dusk, readying to take polaroids of searing neon
illuminating crevasses. Using a solar pack to illuminate
between the peeling rocks, surrounded by darkness, red
shadows and the eery not too distant howls of dingoes.
These experiences were distinct and detailed yet
overlaid with ephemeral atmospheric interactions. The
gleaning of information, unexpected conversations,
interactions with light, and transformation of matter. My
intention is that some of these dialogues are apparent in
the objects that I was able to produce.
1. Geoscience Australia holds a collection of petrographic thin sections
prepared from rock samples that have been collected over many decades.
These have been collected primarily from within Australia as part of our
work programs. …The collection currently contains over 50 000 catalogued
rock thin sections, with more continuing to be produced and catalogued.
The thin section collection is a valuable resource that can be used to study
rocks that have been sampled over a large geographic range.
Geoscience Australia, September 21, 2018. Commonwealth of Australia.
https://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/nmfc/about#heading-4.
2. Craft A.C.T. and Namadgi Open-Day 2021
3. The first two Australian Commonwealth Palaeontologists,
Frederick Chapman and Irene Crespin, worked and also published the
Palaeontological Bulletins between 1932 and 1938.
https://www.ga.gov.au/data-pubs/library/legacy-publications/bulletins
I recalled the evidence of fire damage at Geoscience too,
where charcoal and smoke damage rimmed the historic
cabinets held in the basement. Particularly that of the
historic collections of Australia’s early palaeontologists
Image: Harriet Schwarzrock at Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5
Foot Photography
Page 28-29: Harriet Schwarzrock’s photos at Geoscience
Australia. Photos: Courtesy of the artist
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VALERIE KIRK AM
ARTIST STATEMENT
Time, Place, Evolution, Past Present and Future:
Central to Valerie Kirk’s work is her investigation of time,
place and culture as a Scottish migrant to Australia. In
this body of work, fossils, seasons, night and day, texture
and details of the natural environment are used to
explore our place in a changing world.
The residency has allowed Kirk to change direction and
embrace new ways of working - incorporating found
objects, colour and texture – expressing the feeling of
a place and sense of time……… organic, illusive, the
experienced and the unknown.
As preliminary research for the residency, Kirk studied
Mary E White’s books on Australian plant fossils
tracing the 400-million-year evolutionary history from
submerged life in water to our present plant diversity.
White said, “By entering the world of fossils, one gains a
new and humbling perspective”. For Kirk the plant fossils
provide a tantalising view into the immensity of time
and a perspective on delicately balanced ecosystems and
their vulnerability to changing conditions in our present
time. Australia’s Prehistoric Plants with its photographs
and illustration and viewing Mary E White’s plant fossil
collection in the bulk storage area 17113 Bay 2 was an
inspiration and became a reference for drawings and
imagery in tapestry.
At Namadgi National Park, Kirk was drawn to the surfaces
of the Grandiorite seen in dramatic forms and weathered
boulders known as Tors. The rocks, exposed through
the process of uplift, are weathered and shaped by fire
and rain –solid but ever-changing. On the ground the
texture and colour of plant life withering in autumn, the
changing weather and light, rhythm of night and day
reflect the cycles of time passing. Exploratory drawings/
collage/tapestry were produced to distil the experience,
explore observations and experiment with visual forms.
Later in the studio decisions were made about ideas
to develop into the designs for tapestries. The graphic
compositions and colour schemes of vintage educational
charts from the 19th and 20th century were referenced.
They provided the format and visual style to tell the story
of deep time, the land under foot and the large scale
view into the distance – past present and future, here
and now, moving and changing. The collage designs
were scaled up and woven with selected plied fine yarns,
blending colour and using the material qualities of wool,
cotton and linen.
Image: Valerie Kirk in Studio. Photo: Fiona Bowring
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VALERIE KIRK AM
BIOGRAPHY
Valerie Kirk AM is a Scottish born Australian artist who
explores ideas about moving between two countries,
identity, place and time. She completed a degree and
post graduate studies in art, design and woven tapestry
at Edinburgh College of Art, then came to Australia to
weave at the Australian Tapestry Workshop where she is
now a board member.
As a tapestry weaver and artist she has an international
profile and her work is held in many public and private
collections in Australia and overseas. Polka Dots and
Carp is in the National Gallery Australia collection, six
commissioned tapestries hang in ANU University House
and The Crimson Carpet, part of the project, To Furnish
a Future is at Government House, Sydney. Her work on
community tapestry projects resulted in major works
in the UK and Australia with the Canberra Centenary
Community Tapestry hanging in the Legislative Assembly
for the Australian Capital Territory.
While actively maintaining her practice as an artist she
presented work in the International Fiber Art Biennales,
China, World Textile Art Biennial, Mexico and The
Cordis Prize, Scotland. Her career highlights include
being awarded the HRH Prince Charles Award, the
Cite International des Arts Residency, Paris, Arts ACT
Fellowship, Australia Council Awards, and the Teitelbaum
Award for tapestry, USA.
Kirk is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National
University, Canberra, where she had a distinguished
career from 1990-2017 as a Senior Lecturer, Head of
Textiles and PhD Convenor directing international
projects, symposiums and exhibitions. Her curatorial
work and writing on contemporary and Australian
Indigenous textiles has been presented at international
conferences and published in catalogues, journals and
books.
She continues to make new work, teach and contribute
to Australian art, textiles and woven tapestry.
Images: Valerie Kirk Portrait in Studio. Photos: Fiona Bowring
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HARRIET SCHWARZROCK
ARTIST STATEMENT
My inter-disciplinary artistic practice predominantly
traverses blowing glass and making responsive luminous
forms. Drawing upon the traditions of glassblowing
and the neon trade has offered me a way to activate
the interior of my glass forms, encasing a mesmerising
phenomena within. Referencing cycles of breathing and
circulation within my work locates me in the present
moment. I am fascinated by transmutation, flux, and
interconnectivity, in seeing materials, systems and
matter change in relation to energy, the atmosphere and
each other.
Image: Open day at Ready-Cut Cottage. Photo: 5 Foot
Photography
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HARRIET SCHWARZROCK
BIOGRAPHY
Harriet Schwarzrock graduated from Sydney College of
the Arts in 1999 with Honours in Visual Arts, majoring
in glass, after transferring from a science degree. Prior
to graduating, Schwarzrock travelled through North
America visiting renowned workshops and studios,
assisting artists including Laura Donefer and Steven
Rolfe Powell. On her return to Australia, Schwarzrock
began assisting at Denizen Studio, Sydney, working with
many of Australia’s best glassblowers, developing her
skill and technique and finding inspiration and influence
for her own work.Schwarzrock’s practice is currently
based in her backyard, where she and her partner and
glass artist, Matthew Curtis, run a hot glass studio
together, tinting custom coloured glass.
Schwarzrock has exhibited extensively throughout
Australia and abroad. Her work is widely collected
nationally and international, and her piece, breathe, won
the sculpture prize in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art
Prize in 2014. Harriet Schwarzrock’s work is inspired by
biology, she works with blown glass elements, neon and
metal fixtures, focusing on the exploration of balance
and inter-connectivity.
Images: Open day at Ready-Cut Cottage. Photos: 5 Foot
Photography
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The artist-in-residence program is hosted in partnership
between Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre and ACT Parks
& Conservation Services, with the Geoscience Australia
as our 2021 Research Partner.
We would like to thank ACT Parks & Conservation
Services for their support in producing this catalogue
and Geoscience Australia for their support of the artist
while undertaking the research component of the
residency.
CRAFT ACT WOULD LIKE TO THANK:
All the staff at the ACT Parks and Conservation Services,
with special mention:
Brett McNamara, Regional Manager
Mel Barton, Visitor Services
Peter Cotsell, Regional Manager
Our gratitude extends to the staff members of Craft ACT
who set up and managed the residency and offered
continued support.
Many thanks to Brett Mc Namara, ACT Parks and
Conservation Services for initiating the residency
programme and enabling it to continue and other
staff at Namadgi National Park that made our stay at
Gudgenby Ready Cut Cottage such an inspiring time.
Special thanks to Geoscience Australia staff who offered
mind altering, time bending, and astoundingly varied
insights, allowing us to glimpse the geological treasures
that describe our world. Particular thanks to:
Steven Petkovski, Museum Curator, GA, Natalie
Schroeder, Collection Manager, GA and Billie
Poignand, Collection Manager. Thankyou also to our
photographers: Fiona Bowring, Heather Kirk Harkin,
5foot Photography and Brenton Mc Geachie.
All the staff at Geoscience Australia,
with special mention:
Dr Rachel Przeslawski, Director, Discovery and
Engagement
Steven Petkovski, Curator – Team Lead
Chris Nelson, Manager, Research Support & Library
Leanne McMahon, Client & Visitor Services Manager
We also thank our family, friends and Craft ACT
supporters who travelled with us on the creative journey.
And each other for the shared experiences, adventures,
support, insights and encouragement.
Harriet Schwarzrock and Valerie Kirk AM
VALERIE KIRK AM AND HARRIET
SCHWARZROCK WOULD LIKE TO
THANK...
We acknowledge and pay our deepest respect to the
first inhabitants and traditional custodians of this region,
the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, their elders past,
present and emerging.
Image: Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot Photography

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is supported by
the ACT Government, the Visual Arts and Craft
Strategy - an initiative of the Australian, State and
Territory Governments, and the Australia Council
for the Arts - the Australian Government’s arts
funding and advisory body.
Artist-in-residence Program Partner
2021 Research Partner
Craft ACT is supported by
Image: Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot Photography
Back cover: Geoscience Australia. Photo: 5 Foot Photography

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