The on-going series ‘confluence’ continues my examination of the kanamaluka estuary and its various tributaries. Side stepping away from previous political documentation, ‘confluence’ instead engages a more personal lens to the contested spaces by examining the social ecology of the waterways.
The work unpacks a ‘coming of age’ narrative as young families and teens spend listless summer days basting by the riverbanks, jumping with recklessness amongst the ancient boulders in the riverbed.
Stripped of the ordinary markers of class, the democratic nature of this space heightens the focus of the interrelations at play. Teens smoking and fondling through early courtships, young children test their limits of their physicality and fear while parents oversee with one eye waiting for an imminent time when their presence is no longer needed.
The scaling of trees and towering rocks symbolises a yearning or jumping off into the unknown. Set amongst the escapism of the idyllic summer, the series emits a calm tranquility amongst the fragility of the significant landscape.