Artist Insights
Discover more insights into the artworks and practices of PhotoAccess members, residents, staff members and tutors.
Samantha Hawker
Samantha Hawker shares thoughts about her artworks in The Salon.
Eucalyptus, Smoke Haze, 2020, L
Eucalyptus, Fire, 2020, R
Eucalyptus, Smoke Haze
Just before Christmas we find ants rimming the sink. ‘I think they’re thirsty,’ Tom says.
Once on Richard Fidler’s Conversations I heard D’harawal elder Aunty Fran Bodkin say we can learn a lot about the weather from the way meat ants behave.
They swarm before it is going to rain. They rim their nests with tiny white stones. This warns of really hot weather, bushfires coming through.
I follow the trail of ants down the corridor, out over the deck and down the steps to their nest by the dehydrated maple tree. White stones, black ants, bone dry earth.
The talk on the radio has a hushed, doomed feeling to it. Bushfires are ravaging the country and the fire season has barely begun.
At our farm in the Snowy Monaro it is dry and windy. The trees usually submerged in the middle of the lake are growing out of the receding waterline. We clear the gutters and pack the most precious paintings and books into the car.

Joe Slater



Eucalyptus, Fire
The night after the fires came through I stand in the house that wasn’t meant to be standing and look out at the moonlit landscape.
Hundreds of lights from still burnings stumps dot the hill like candles held by the audience of a large concert.
The air tastes like ash.
The house is empty of ants now. The smoking bush is silent except for the crack of falling trees.
I wonder what has come of the Willy Wagtail nest that lived in the pine tree outside the door to the lake.
Last week there were three baby Wagtails inside. The pine tree survived the fires. But the nest, and the Wagtails, are gone.
Joe Slater talks about his artworks in The Salon.
Mountains, Burning, 2020, L
Stairs, Falling, 2020, R
Fiona Bowring-Greer
Fiona Bowring-Greer talks about her artworks in The Salon.
Tokyo not now not again, 2017, L
Alpha Girl and Zetas, 2017, R


Lucille Martin
Lucille Martin talks about her artworks in The Salon.
Connected Lands from Imagined Territories, iPhoneography, Photo-media, Found image on Alumalux Facemount , 1.40 cm x 55 ( Variable Shapes )



Brian Rope
Brian Rope talks about his artworks in The Salon.
Barriers at the Boundary, 2020
Dreaming of Better Times, 2020
Brian MacAlister
Brian MacAlister talks about his artworks in The Salon.
Untitled (1), 2020, Inkjet Print
16-, 2020, Inkjet Print


Maddie Hepner talks about her artworks in The Salon.
Who's Here #2, 40 x 40 cm L
Who's Here #3, 40 x 40 cm R
Maddie Hepner


Yvette Perine
Yvette Perine talks about her artworks in The Salon
Jerra, 2019, Inkjet print, L
Kozzie, 2019, Inkjet print, R


Suzie Edwards
Suzie Edwards talks about her artworks in The Salon
Shadow Boy 1A, 2019, Type C Print, 46.4 x 22.1 cm, L
After the Fires, 2020, Type C Print, 42 c 59. 4cm, R


Eva Van Gorsel
Eva Van Gorsel talks about her artworks in The Salon.
Exploration, 2019, inkjet print, 25 x 44cm, L
Nightfall, 2020, inkjet print, 25 x 44c, R

