Mandy Hunniford | Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging | Queenstown | 2010-2022
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Set in the remarkable landscape of the western wilds of Tasmania, Mandy Hunnifords Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is a large-scale, multimedia production. Created in Mandys studio in Queenstown over a twelve-year period, this ambitious eight-part series presents a variety of media including painting, film, sound design, digital light installations and a work of remembrance. First created to acknowledge the great loss Queenstown has endured through mining accidents over the last century, Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is now not just defined by the sadness of those years but also by Queenstowns resilient, determined community and its distinctive, regenerating landscape. Presenting rich, multilayered experiences, Mandy seeks out both the sorrow and the beauty, the fragile and the robust, and how Queenstown is shaped by those elements. Mandys investigation of Queenstown is explored through a combination of themes: the closeness and connections of its community, its beautiful but contested landscape and the complex histories of an arts-wilderness-mining town. Woven into Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging are many layers of text with copper and gold paint that signify the sources of Queenstowns origins and heritage. Mandy is the fourth generation of her family to come from Queenstown and has a genuine connection to the town and the West Coast through family and an existing engagement with the Queenstown community. Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is a modern, innovative production that directly engages both young and old, building community pride and helping to bind the past with the unifying spirit of remembrance, landscape and belonging.
Mandy Hunniford | Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging | Queenstown | 2010-2022
- 1. Mandy Hunniford Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging Queenstown 2010-2022
- 2. Page 3: Overview Page 4: Part 1 - North Lyell Mine Disaster 1912 Page 6: Part 2 - Centenary Memorial Page 8: Part 3 - The Notes (I Will say Goodbye) Page 10: Part 4 - Belonging Page 15: Part 5 - Origins - Landscapes of Queenstown Page 22: Part 6 - Requiem (For the Fallen Miners) Page 25: Part 7 - To Those that did not Return Home Page 27: Part 8 - Copper and Gold INDEX Mandy Hunniford Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging Queenstown 2010-2022 Cover page: Centenary Memorial 2012 Digital light installation Queenstown This page: The Tree of Life (West) 2021 oil on canvas 97 x 97 cm (Detail)
- 3. OVERVIEW Set in the remarkable landscape of the western wilds of Tasmania, Mandy Hunnifords Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is a large-scale, multimedia production. Created in Mandys studio in Queenstown over a twelve-year period, this ambitious eight-part series presents a variety of media including painting, film, sound design, digital light installations and a work of remembrance. First created to acknowledge the great loss Queenstown has endured through mining accidents over the last century, Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is now not just defined by the sadness of those years but also by Queenstowns resilient, determined community and its distinctive, regenerating landscape. Presenting rich, multilayered experiences, Mandy seeks out both the sorrow and the beauty, the fragile and the robust, and how Queenstown is shaped by those elements. Mandys investigation of Queenstown is explored through a combination of themes: the closeness and connections of its community, its beautiful but contested landscape and the complex histories of an arts-wilderness-mining town. Woven into Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging are many layers of text with copper and gold paint that signify the sources of Queenstowns origins and heritage. Mandy is the fourth generation of her family to come from Queenstown and has a genuine connection to the town and the West Coast through family and an existing engagement with the Queenstown community. Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging is a modern, innovative production that directly engages both young and old, building community pride and helping to bind the past with the unifying spirit of remembrance, landscape and belonging.
- 4. Part 1 Title: North Lyell Mine Disaster 1912 Year: 2011 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 137 x 355 cm (Triptych)
- 5. Exhibited as part of These are the years that we share at Soggy Brolly Gallery, Queenstown in 2022. Exhibited as part of In Memoriam, Queenstown Parts 1-6 in partnership with National Trust, Tasmania and Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival (now The Unconformity) in 2014. Exhibited as part of Awe and Flux: Works of Western Tasmania at LARQ Gallery, Queenstown in 2011. On October 12, 1912, at the North Lyell Mine in Queenstown, a fire broke out in the timber pumphouse. On the surface the fire could have been easily extinguished but in the confines of the underground mine the smoke, fumes and lack of oxygen were deadly, causing the trapped men to perish. North Lyell Mine Disaster 1912 is a memorial artwork dedicated to the fallen miners that did not return home. Using the work as an epitaph, the fallen miner's names, ages and places of birth are commemorated in gold paint as are the notes sent up from the stranded men and goodbye notes left for their loved ones. Despite frantic efforts to save them, forty-two miners lost their lives in the North Lyell mine disaster. Albert Gadd, known as the forty-third miner, gave his all to help with the rescue operations but due to monoxide poisoning died a few months later. His widow later received a bravery medal for his selfless, heroic efforts in saving his mates.
- 6. Part 2 Title: Centenary Memorial Year: 2012 Medium: Digital light installation
- 7. On the eve of the centenary of the North Lyell Mine Disaster in 1912, Mandy projected an image of her painting, North Lyell Mine Disaster 1912, on to the wall of the Galley Museum in Queenstown. Chosen for its historic exterior the Galley Museum also contains the original photos, notes and memorabilia from the mine disaster. As in all mining tragedies, there is no doubt that the families and community of Queenstown were trapped along with the men. Centenary Memorial was Mandys response to the devastating loss of those forty-three sons, fathers and husbands and the sadness and grief that the community shared. Centenary Memorial was presented as part of the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival (now The Unconformity) in 2012.
- 8. Part 3 Title: The Notes (I will say Goodbye) Medium: oil, canvas Size: 60 x 720 cm (12 panels) Year: 2014 The Notes (I will say Goodbye) is in memory of the miners who were trapped underground in the Mt Lyell Mine Disaster in 1912. Struggling to breathe from the toxic fumes, within the confines of the compacted ground and with the end of their lives imminent, they sent notes to the surface asking for help. We are losing confidence; the cold is terrible and that there is no time to lose. The fallen miners also left notes behind for their loved ones. Dear Agnes, I will say goodbye, sure I will not see you again anymore. I am pleased to have made a little provision for you and little Lorna.
- 9. Exhibited as part of These are the years that we share at Soggy Brolly Gallery, Queenstown in 2022. Exhibited as part of In Memoriam, Queenstown Parts 1-6 and was presented in partnership with National Trust, Tasmania and Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival (now The Unconformity) in 2014.
- 10. Part 4 Title: Belonging Medium: Digital light installations Date: 2020 - 21
- 11. Belonging highlighted how art, history, architecture and landscape can combine for the enjoyment of the Queenstown community through a series of spontaneous digital light installations. Mandys aim was to reveal and reframe the unique character, landscape, and history of Queenstown through its impressive historic architecture. Belonging was a series of digital light installations of Mandys Queenstown landscape paintings that were illuminated onto several significant buildings in Queenstown. These included the Post Office, Evans Store and the Galley Museum. Belonging confirmed a strong sense of identity, a connection to Queenstowns iconic landscape and architecture with the knowledge that belonging comes in many forms.
- 15. Part 5 Title: Origins - Landscapes of Queenstown Medium: oil, acrylic, canvas, pine, Queenstown rocks Size: 25 x 48 x 15 cm Year: 2021 A Box of Landscape (Queenstown) 2015 acrylic on pine, Queenstown rocks 25 x 48 x 15cm
- 16. With the striking colours of its unique landscape Mandy presented Queenstown's multilayered topography with its rugged challenges, complex histories and dramatic wildness. Mandy created Origins Landscapes of Queenstown in her Queenstown studio using the surrounding landscape as its core component with traces of beauty, whimsy and pathos. Origins - Landscapes of Queenstown was exhibited at the Mountain View Motel as part of The Unconformity Festival in 2021. The Confluence, King and Queen Rivers 2013 acrylic on canvas 61 x 122 cm
- 17. Landscape Memorial in Copper and Gold 2010 oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm
- 18. The Tree of Life (West) 2021 oil on canvas 97 x 97 cm
- 19. Origins 2021 acrylic on canvas 61 x 61 cm
- 20. Copper, Gold and Iron Ore 2021 oil on canvas 50.7 x 50.7 cm
- 21. The Queen River (February 1970) 2013 acrylic on canvas 100 x 100 cm
- 22. Part 6 Title: Requiem (For the Fallen Miners) Medium: King Billy Pine, Huon Pine, acrylic, Queenstown rocks Size: 60 x 60 x 95 cm Year: 2014
- 23. Requiem (For the Fallen Miners) is a work of remembrance created in memory of the fallen miners and as a tribute to their resilient families and the determined communities of the West Coast of Tasmania. Mandy based the structure of Requiem (For the Fallen Miners) on a pigsty timber support that were once used to underpin the rock ceilings in the Mt Lyell Mine. Old photographs provided historical references showing the use of these supports many decades ago. Local King Billy and Huon pine were crafted to create the structure and the square box which hold the varnished and hand painted rocks that Mandy had gathered from several sites near the Mt Lyell Mine. Exhibited as part of These are the years that we share at Soggy Brolly Gallery in Queenstown in 2022. Exhibited as part of the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival (now The Unconformity) and National Trust, Tasmania in 2014. Requiem (For the Fallen Miners) was assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Tasmanian Government
- 24. Part 8 Title: To Those that did not Return Home Medium: oil on canvas Size: 101.6 x 609.6 cm Year: 2014-22
- 25. To Those that did not Return Home is dedicated to the fallen miners on the West Coast of Tasmania who never made it back h0me to their families and friends. With painted landscape and gold text Mandy brings the fallen miners names to the surface for the communities of the West Coast. Nothing demonstrates the fragility of life more than the unexpected loss of it and Mandy sensitively developed and created To Those that did not Return Home in her Queenstown studio. One of the toughest job traditions, miners do their work with pride, purpose and with identity and solidarity inherited from those that went before them. Because to be a miner is not just another job, the risks and dangers are high and remain that way. West Coast miners and the fallen miners have a right to be proud given how much they have contributed to the growth and prosperity of the West Coast and Tasmania over the last century. Mandy hopes that the opportunity to create confirms to the communities of the West Coast that their men are here and with their names held up before us, we will remember them all.
- 26. To Those that did not Return Home (Panels 1-6) was exhibited as part of These are the years that we share at Soggy Brolly Gallery in Queenstown, 2022. To Those that did not Return Home (Panels 1-3) was presented as part of the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival (now The Unconformity) and National Trust, Tasmania in 2014. To Those that did not Return Home was assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Tasmanian Government.
- 27. Part 7 Title: Copper and Gold Mandy Hunniford with Scott Atkins and Laurence Maddy Year: 2022 Medium: Film, sound design
- 28. Copper and Gold is an ongoing series of short, dynamic films that reflect the creative experiences, themes and outcomes of Mandys extensive art practice in her hometown. With the inventive and talented team of videographer, Scott Atkins and sound designer, Laurence Maddy, Mandy is producing Copper and Gold for delivery in 2025. Copper and Gold (Stage 1) was made possible through the Arts and Screen Digital Production Fund, assisted by the Arts Tasmania and Screen Tasmania through the Tasmania Government.
- 29. Acknowledgements: Raymond Arnold, Travis Tiddy, Phil Evans, Sandra Smith and her family, Natalie Gleeson, Emmylou Smith, John Halton, Rhonda Hamilton, Jesse Hunniford, Scott Atkins, Laurence Maddy, Patrick Sutczak, Lea Walpole, Kelly Eijdenberg, Vikki Iwanicki, Jayne Reed, Ian Bradshaw, Nathan and Alex Williams, Graeme Mee, Derek Chilcott, Helena Demczuk, Brett Schultz, Diane Powell, Todd Wilkin, Marina Franke, Jen Wren Bayes, Candy Murphy and the communities of Queenstown and the West Coast of Tasmania. Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging was supported by Arts Tasmania and Screen Tasmania through the Tasmanian Government, The Unconformity, National Trust Tasmania, RANT Arts and Interweave Arts The Artist acknowledges and respects the palawa people as the traditional custodians of lutruwita/Tasmania and honours their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this land. The historical information for Remembrance, Landscape and Belonging, Queenstown 2010-2022 was supplied by the Artist from various sources except for Part 8 which was supplied by Jayne Reed. Photography by Jesse Hunniford, Todd Wilkin, Rod Rainbird and the Artist. Still frame from Copper and Gold by Scott Atkins.