Art / See What I See! A celebration of biodiversity through creative practices, NatureArt Lab. At M16 Artspace, Griffith, until October 18. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA

A huge exhibition at M16 Artspace until the end of this week showcases 117 works by the Canberra based organisation, by NatureArt Lab, which runs art retreats to the Galapagos Islands, the Ecuador in Amazon, Costa Rica and this week, Borneo, while holding professional classes, workshops, exhibitions throughout the year.

This show aims at careful consideration of our relationship with the living world.

When I walked through, founder of NatureArt Lab and artist, Julia Landford, pointed out exceptional diversity, with media as different as pastels, oils, watercolour, scratch-board, photography and even one inventive artist, Ross Andrews, painting in acrylic on Xuan Ricepaper fused onto aluminium.

Langford, who had founded the organisation in 2017 to combine natural history illustration, science, and environmental conservation, is quick to assert the academic credentials of her professional tutors, who between them hold dozens of doctorates, mostly in scientific subjects.

This signals that the focus is not so much art for art’s sake but art for nature and for saving the planet, meaning that many of the species depicted by the exhibiting artists are endangered.

With this in mind, pride of place has been given to screening of video footage taken by David Reece, a compilation of six videos taken in Malaysia and in the Canberra region, one part showing the very last Sumatran rhinoceros, which has since died in captivity.

It was not just taken technical accuracy which was on show, but talent for composition and a quality of detailed refinement in the artwork was also evident, reaching a high point in tiny representations of Canberra species commissioned from Jessica Riese by NatureArt Lab for their promotional postcards. Her original artworks take pride of place on the wall along with larger artworks.

Another notable inclusion was that of many artists’ books including concertina fold-out books and, by well-known artist Sharon Peoples, flag books dedicated to particular bird species.

Among the more traditional media in this exhibition were many elaborate pastels, demonstrating that the colour in that medium is no less rich than in oils, acrylics and watercolour.

The exhibition, to runs until October 18, has been accompanied by many hands-on workshops, some of them in a dedicated exhibition space at Floriade.

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