I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people who are the traditional custodians of this land on which we are meeting and pay respect to the Elders of the Ngunnawal Nation both past and present. I extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in attendance today.

Land is at the heart of this exhibition “ ON THE VERGE”
You might ask, what are we on the verge of? … the verge of a nervous breakdown, the verge of a catastrophe, or just plain and simply standing on the verge..on the nature strip, that genteel fringe surrounding all roads in Canberra’s sprawling suburbs, where once neighbours would cross each others paths on the way to and from home and wave. A common ground on which they might share a few pleasantries about the weather while pushing a wheelie bin to the edge of the road.

This neighbourly conversation is what we see occurring between Thea and Susan in this exhibition. Two different perspectives on what the verge can be.

The verge is an area on the margins of our consciousness which is not a destination in itself… I have never said to anyone – Do you want to go to the verge today?… I haven’t been there in ages.
The verge is the blurred line, demarcating the private and public – neither wholly one nor the other. It is a space that has to do so many things that on the surface is is seemingly innocuous….

Anne Napier quoted…“Canberra verges are more hotly contested than towel space on Bondi Beach on Australia day”.

The verge is glacial, on the surface it is a strip of grass, with a row trees, it is where the signposts are, the political posters, the electricity poles, the working sites for installing the NBN, access to the water and sewerage pipes – Underground it is the arteries of the city and entanglement of PVC, concrete and cellulose tubing all in like worms in the ground, pulsing away in the soil to service the functioning of a city.

For Thea- the verge is about the tree, Native and Exotic, functioning like landmarks identify specific locations in Canberra equally as clearly as the icon buildings they appear before. The Statuesque trees, spread their boughs out across the sky, at times interlocking arms with one another, conspiratorially – like protesters at a picket line. And no wonder… all Canberrans will have the visual memory of the grand old eucalyptus trees that once lined Northbourne Avenue and the dreaded numbers sprayed on the trunks of trees to be cut down.

The trees in these work cast shadows like crakes upon the ground which suggest the vast network of roots beneath. The vitally of these trees and the industrious way they function to take up water and create oxygen is felt in the animated paint handling and hues.

It stands to reason that artists should look to the margins of our attention for new inspiration rather than to the main event. These paintings turn the spotlight on the overlooked and do its in such a way that now we will see these spaces that exist on the verge of our consciousness and on our streets with new insight and interest.