The Southern Skies all a swirl  2009
archival ink-jet print
50 x 40 cm, edition 25

The Southern Skies all a swirl was commissioned by Climarte as part of their Climarte Change Poster project in 2016 in which 400 posters by 10 artists were posted up all round Melbourne in the same year. The work depicts a wind farm dotting the rolling hills of Toora in Brataualung Gunaikurnai Country (South Gippsland). The same day I photographed the scene (using a 4x5” large format camera) I also looked up an online animated wind map focusing on the same area and took a screen shot of it. Once I had processed and scanned the black and white negative, I digitally collaged the wind map screen grab into the sky. The spiralling wind patterns in the sky create a contemporary nod to Van Gogh’s Starry night. To me they are simultaneously wondrous yet ominous. Wonder, that humans have been able to generate power from the invisible wind, and an uneasy feeling coming from the terrible impacts of human beings upon weather patterns, climate change and nature generally. The Southern Skies all a swirl is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, State Library of Victoria, City of Yarra, University of Melbourne and many private collections around Australia.

— Siri Hayes

Artist bio