Gympie Regional Gallery - Rosie Lloyd-Giblett

Queensland artist, Rosie Lloyd-Giblett’s show ‘Bones and Bouquets’ is an exhibition that requires more than one visit. I found the work slowly drawing me in. I became fascinated by the stories the artist is telling, the ideas she is exploring and the link they have with her personal history – growing up on a cattle property in Western Queensland.

Rosie also uses the process of writing poetry to access her personal philosophical dialogue. I found her words so immensely enjoyable.

Eat my dust brother 
I used to love making dust on my motorbike. 
Speeding home after being outside working 
Past the graveyard of animals that have been 
What animal were you and what will you become? 
Bones are a metaphor for memory and reflection 
Bones have been beings and will continue to be. 
Memories transformed and transferred to another life. 

Questions of life, and more specifically the impact we are having on the natural environment of regional Queensland are raised in these works. The artist recalls playtime with her brother and spending hours tracking animals, following the paths through to somewhere… into gullies or over cultivation. “The bones we came across were not for kicking,” said Rosie. “We would walk around them and even sit for a while.

“Bones should be respected and viewed as a memory - thus the metaphor. Bones are placed on the land and they become it. Is this reincarnation? Does the bone become a rock or something else? The bouquets are the flora we collected and often placed in remembrance of those beings that had passed on,” says Rosie.

My favourite work was ‘Groundcover’ – to me this painting is very reminiscent of the artist’s childhood remembering – a girl lost in the bones. It raises the question – what are these bones? Are they her memories? Are they her forefathers? Perhaps they are the landscape. The bones are the groundcover. They are everywhere. If you have grown up in the bush you will understand.

There is a depth and straightforward honesty in this body of work that rings of authenticity.

Congratulations, Rosie!

Amy Clarke
Guest Reviewer

16th July - 10th August 2013
www.gympie.qld.gov.au/gallery