Current exploratory phase: Reminiscing & revering
The point of entry to the past becomes more pleasant when walking through the door with a strengths-based lens. By recognising enduring connections to land, adventure and achievement through remnants of digital records, I am invited to remember who I was in those moments. This sets the foundations for integration.
Circa 2013 - 2017
Audrey Cove, Mornington, VIC
This special place was only around the corner from where I lived when I was 16. I use to walk here every other day for the better part of a year, and have revisited several times over the years.
Audrey Cove, Mornington, VIC
Between the age of 16-17 was a very dark chapter. This will always be a place of great beauty, with a special place in my heart, but it will always be tied to a complex time of my life.
I cannot tell you the amount of time I spent sitting at this cliff staring out at that horizon. This landscape will forever hold echoes of a young girl harbouring profound pain.
Royal Beach, Mornington, VIC
This is next to the park where I had my first date with my ex; where I cried about my life & trauma the whole time.
I'll be forever grateful for how my life changed when I met him. I helped his mum run her organic store & began establishing independence. When it came time to uproot my life with no place to go, his mum agreed to offer a bed until I found my feet, so I didn't have to go back to NSW. I often wonder where I would be without the opportunities they gave me.
The Briars, Mount Martha, VIC
Outside the perimeters of the nature reserve, to the right of the road on the way in, was a hill. I use to spend time there when I was 18-19, laying in the grass looking at the sky and the spaciousness around me.
Mount Eliza, VIC
By 2016, I'd taken out a loan to buy my own car, after funding my own lessons to learn to drive. I'd gone from paying board to my boss/ex-boyfriends mum in Mount Eliza, to their family friend in Somerville. I did a short stint working as a children's music presenter during this time, travelling to childcare centres doing what I can only describe as live Play School. Ironically, my mental health was dire, despite performing joyfully in front of tough crowds of toddlers.
Ballam Park, Frankston, VIC
I signed my first lease at 19; a single bedsitter in an old aged care facility in Frankston that had been converted to residential living. No sink, oven, windows, air-con or lockable fly screen.
I picked the room in the furthest back corner not thinking about the corridors. I used to sleep with 5 door stops wedged under my door and dowel in the sliding door to keep safe.
I loved my independence & makeshift security - but not as much as I loved climbing this tree.
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Reminiscing & revering: Dynamic Gallery (processing)
Mount Dandenong Arboretum, VIC
This place will always have a special place in my heart. It always felt so magical and freeing to roam here - the first arboretum I ever happened upon. It became my safe haven to retreat to for many years from 18 through to my early 20s.
Mount Dandenong Arboretum, VIC
Mount Dandenong Arboretum, VIC
Uranquinty, NSW
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