Undulating Scapes: Up Close to Eucalypts

It all started when mixed media artist Sandhya Porritt saw a glint of light on a gum tree. ‘Stop the car!’ she cried out to her husband who was driving. It was a visual epiphany which eventually led to a stunning display of macro-photographic images, displayed recently alongside the Victorian Woodworkers Association’s Double Take in Wood at the Manningham Art Gallery space in Doncaster, Victoria.

Undulating Scapes is Sandhya’s most recent exhibition and is an exploration of the interplay of line, texture and shadow revealed close-up in the bark of trees. Printed on canvas, her images of Eucalyptus pauciflora or snow gum become a reflection on the real life landscapes they seem to parallel.

The images were the result of a 12 month project during which the same trees were revisited and photographed to record the subtle changes that occurred in response to the weather. The trees were located within a 100 square kilometre area of Victoria’s alpine region. ‘I was literally photographing one square centimetre sections of different sets of trees at a time’, said Sandhya who also writes poetry and works in natural therapies.

Sandhya Porritt’s exhibition is on show until Saturday November 11 and on that day Sandhya will also give a whole day workshop on techniques of macrophotography.

For more information see www.manningham.vic.gov.au

Below, two of Sandhya Porritt's macrophotographic images of eucalyptus bark shown as part of Undulating Scapes.