Art / “Silent Canary” by Dennis Mortimer. At The Queanbeyan Hive (by appointment), Reviewed by BARRINA SOUTH.

A few weeks ago, I found myself in north-west Tasmania alongside the Franklin River.

I remember the protests. As I stood alongside this wild river, I felt overcome and thankfully to all who fought the fight to save the river, to keep it wild, so that I now had the privilege of enjoying it.

Bob Brown, environmentalist, is often heard posing the question, “What are you doing to make a difference?” in response to environmental issues. It is a question for us all, but for local Queanbeyan artist Dennis Mortimer he has taken up the challenge to make a difference through his art.

Mortimer has dedicated his art practice to an ongoing visual arts project title the “Silent Canary”. The project is a response to the concerns and issues revealed by the environmental impacts of plastics, pesticides, forest decimation, monocultures and fossil fuel burning.

What sets this exhibition apart from others who centre their art works around these issues is Mortimer’s passion, genuine empathy and his masterful artistic sensibility. It is these elements, present in the paintings currently on show at The Queanbeyan Hive that strikes a chord with the viewer. The art works make a connection, inviting the viewer to take the time to carefully consider the messages being shared.

The  work “Falling Down Buildings” resonated with me because it is a commentary on a stressed society. Mortimer uses an abstract style in monochrome to depict a building bending, stretched and turning in on itself, the viewer can feel the tension and the effects stress can have on our bodies.

But what is interesting in this work, is that the building’s shadow is in the form of a tree, as though Mortimer is reminding us of the important role nature and our environment plays in our wellbeing. Or is he encouraging the viewer to image what the environment might be feeling, stressed?

The artwork “Litmus Test” is particularly intriguing, Mortimer is using images of frogs (decomposed in plastic bags) examined by scientists to gauge the health of ecosystems. The artwork has a lightness to it, as though the plastic bags are flying, adding to the landfill. At first the viewer immediately understands the plastic bags and connects the dots, but Mortimer pushes the viewers with the inclusion of abstract forms in each of the bags which the viewer soon understands are frogs.

Once revealed that painting has a more sinister feel. It is as thought Mortimer has painted the bags as veils, it isn’t until you pull back the veil you see what is behind, what is really going on.