Scottish-born photographer Ryan Slater explores the natural beauty of Tasmania
ABOVE AND BELOW
RACHEL HARRIS and TASHA WALLER
SOCIAL gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, 67 Salamanca Place, November 6 to 18, 2024
Rachel Harris and Tasha Waller specialise in realistic colour pencil drawings of Tasmanian wildlife. Their first exhibition, Above and Below, is the culmination of two years of work and explores the connections between art, science and conservation. More than 30 meticulously detailed drawings and fine art prints will be on display, featuring Tasmanian birds, mammals and marine life. Many will be familiar and charismatic, while others have historically been taken for granted, ignored, or even persecuted.
Colour pencil is not a widely used artistic medium. It is painstakingly slow to work with, and a drawing can take weeks to complete. However, it allows for the creation of beautifully life-like art, full of details of fur, feathers, eyes, whiskers and scales.
Harris and Waller met in 2022 when they both worked at the Australian Antarctic Division. Both have received recognition in local, interstate, and international art awards, including as finalists in the Holmes Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art (Sunshine Coast) and Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (Adelaide). They use their art to raise awareness and support for the conservation of Tasmania’s unique wildlife. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to local organisations including the Handfish Conservation Project, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, the Raptor Refuge and Birdlife Tasmania.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Rachel Harris is a federal public servant working in policy. Originally from New Zealand, she has lived on Hobart’s eastern shore for most of her life and has always had a strong connection to nature and animals. She studied Tasmanian echidnas for her PhD at the University of Tasmania and has worked directly with other animals featured in the exhibition. When not drawing in her spare time, she can often be spotted looking for birds, lizards and other animals on bushwalking tracks.
Tasha Waller grew up in Adelaide and has always had a love for animals and the outdoors. She and her husband moved to Tasmania to be closer to nature. She has an environmental science background and works part time in the science field. Outside work, she is a keen diver and underwater photographer, and it was this interest that led to her to start drawing the marine animals from her underwater images, and has since expanded from ocean to land and sky creatures.