47. Watchers on the Weir

Artwork number: 47
Artist: Melissa De Winter
Medium: Encaustic and ink on board
Description: Inspired by the landscape surrounding Mundaring Weir, Watchers on the Weir explores the delicate relationship between water, forest and the forces reshaping the natural world.
Ghostly trees rise through an atmospheric landscape of blue, charcoal, soft pink and ochre. Their dark, skeletal forms resemble silent sentinels, watching over a place of immense ecological significance. Beneath the surface, layers of translucent wax reveal intricate textures, shifting patterns and glimpses of forms that appear and disappear, reflecting the complexity of a living forest.
Expressive drips run down the painting, echoing falling rain, flowing water and the passage of time. Yet they also carry a more uneasy suggestion of erosion and loss. With bauxite mining and exploration proposals by Alcoa raising concerns about the future of the Northern Jarrah Forest and the Mundaring Weir catchment, these downward flows take on added significance: a reminder of how vulnerable our forests and water systems are to human intervention.
Subtle honeycomb hexagons, pressed into the wax, introduce another layer of meaning. Referencing bees and the intricate networks that sustain life, they speak to the interdependence of species and habitats, and to the consequences that disruption in one part of an ecosystem can have on the whole.
Balancing beauty with unease, Watchers on the Weir is both a response to a particular place and a reflection on what stands to be lost. The trees remain as witnesses, enduring, vulnerable and quietly asking us to consider what we choose to protect.
Artist statement: Watchers on the Weir reflects on the fragile future of the Northern Jarrah Forest and the Mundaring Weir catchment. Dark, skeletal trees emerge through layers of translucent encaustic, standing as silent witnesses to a landscape under pressure. The downward drips evoke rain, water and the slow passage of time, but also suggest erosion, loss and the consequences of human intervention. Pressed into the wax, honeycomb hexagons offer a quiet reminder of the interconnected life systems that sustain the forest -- and the importance of protecting them.