Ngaio Fitzpatrick

About the work

At the heart of my practice is the existential threat posed by climate change and the need for urgent action to preserve the beauty and bio diversity still remaining. Vigil for a Reef is a work of advocacy for coral reefs around the world. The Great Barrier Reef recently underwent a fourth bleaching event and is at risk of extinction.

 

 ‘Vigil for a Reef’ is an installation of coral made from recycled glass and evokes the beauty and fragility of natural eco systems. Like glass, Earth’s ecosystems exist in a state of equilibrium and once pushed beyond this state, will change radically in structure to the point of rupture.

The ephemeral possibilities offered by air, water and light reflect the unfolding and shifting states between darkness and light, despair and hope. The work is a call for action while we still have time.

 

Proposed public performance with composer Dr Alexander Hunter TBC

About the artist

Ngaio Fitzpatrick is an artist, Visiting Fellow with the ANU Institute of Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions and recipient of both a 2018 Australia Awards Endeavour Fellowship in Berlin and a 2016 ANU Vice Chancellors College of the Arts Fellowship. In 2020 she became an Affiliate with the ANU History and Legacies of Environmental Violence cross-campus network.

Her multi-disciplinary arts practice encompasses site-specific installation, performance, moving image and collaborative experimental music interactions with composer Dr Alexander Hunter. Her works explore the human relationship with climate change by drawing together immersive installation, layered imagery, video, text and sculptural forms.