Cassandra Kavanagh's Art | Public figure
Cassandra Kavanagh's Art
Phone: +61 416 744 142
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24.01.2022 NEW ART-WORK : "The Last Flight", 2020 by Cassandra Kavanagh - Millions upon millions of birds spread their wings and took their last flight as they flew through the flames that roared through our ancient forests...The forests fell silent as the fires stilled their songs ; songs that still whisper in the wind for those with an ear to hear...I imagine their shadowy spirits still soaring through the smoke...With every breath we take ,we breathe them in and their will to live ; their hope to survive still stains the sky with their dust and ash...We must re-wild the charred earth ; we must cherish the lives that they lived and lost , we must sing their songs and return the world to the garden it was....it is the only way
24.01.2022 NEW ART-WORK : "Out of the Ashes",by Cassandra Kavanagh 2020 (Inspired by the mega-fires that have swept across Australia in 2019 & 2020)....soft rain falls and out of the ashes springs life and ever so slowly the re-wilding begins ...we can nourish and nurture nature ; we can become the gardeners of the new wild ....there is hope..(but we must act now).
23.01.2022 " The Edge of Memory" ; A gouache painting ,July 2019 by Cassandra Kavanagh Memory is a strange landscape to travel upon, because nothing is really as you remember it... The Variegated Fairy wren with his little red ruff is long gone ; I only saw him once despite returning many times ....and yet in my memory of this special ,almost sacred place, he remains bright and beautiful and more luminous than anything else I ever saw there...he is woven in time forever more ;overlayin...Continue reading
22.01.2022 MY ENTRY FOR THE MEROOGAL WOMENS ART PRIZE 2018,unfortunately it wasn't chosen to be part of their exhibition but I will exhibit it later. "Ghosts of the Past" :- The musings of memory take us down a maze in which to wander; weaving together to create a richly remembered tapestry of images.As in dreams ,the images blend and fragment, surface and submerge and merge together, which is why I have taken the pattern on the quilt from the bed (in the primary bedroom) featured in th...e art work and woven it through the entire piece, connecting all the found and remembered objects at Meroogal.I chose the bed, the chair, the old photograph and teapot because I thought these objects would feature strongly in the daily lives of those who once lived in Meroogal .The little girl ; part ghost and part memory hauntingly reflected in the mirror is actually my grandmother.The words are from a recipe for a *lemon sponge" taken from a cookbook in the kitchen of Meroogal house.I intend to do more of these memory inspired art works featuring images from the past . See more
22.01.2022 "SHE WALKS" ,2018 My younger son wanted to see if I could create something "Gothic, dark and mysterious" ! Although it has taken days to do I had such fun creating it that I might do a series of these haunting women disappearing into the shadows (Interestingly I photographed the chair about ten years ago in Wollongong Harbour where it was a prop for a wedding on the beach. I knew I would find a use for it one day ! )....
22.01.2022 NEW ART-WORK : "The Betrayal", 2020 by Cassandra Kavanagh- The earth is our only home and we share it with billions of other life forms ...This strange,beautiful , implausible & improbable planet is the only source of life that we know of in this vast universe ... we should have regarded this spinning globe of wind-swept plains ,vast blue oceans , green forests & glades , golden sands ,red rocks , sky-scraping mountains and silver streams as a sacred garden ! Our role should ...have been and could have been , 'the gardeners' ; preservers and protectors of life and lands....the earth should have been blessed and beloved !.....We have failed her ! In reaching for the stars and wanting so much more than we need , we have fallen and we have betrayed all that matters...In seeing the earth as something to be plundered for profit and used and abused and wasted for personal wealth ,we have harmed our only home...The fires and floods and droughts are a clear warning. Now is the time we must make amends ,before it is too late !....Australia is quite literally burning . This is the year of fire and the flames ! . More than a billion animals have perished (not counting frogs or skinks or fish and trillions of insects & other invertebrates) ,100 species are on the brink of extinction and some are lost forever ....We know our world is warming beyond the limit sustainable for life ...the world is waiting for us to act and the time is now....but will we ? See more
21.01.2022 "My Home Too :Pardalote On a wire" ....I am working on a series of art-works ; a series called "My Home Too" , to convey the message that wherever human beings transform the earth and change the environment, they have a duty to both preserve and create sustainable habitat for all the other life-forms we share this beautiful planet with ! There must be spaces and places for all the other living things upon this world ! This means creating large wilderness corridors filled with dense, nutrient-rich forest and park land in an around all our cities ,suburbs and farm land in addition incorporating vertical forests on our high-rises and creating roof-top gardens on our homes and office blocks. At the edges of industry we must leave the edge-lands to run wild ! This is their earth too !
20.01.2022 "My Home Too :Pipit On a Wire" : part of the "My Home Too" Series; art works designed as gentle reminders that we share this beautiful earth with so many other living things ...More than any other species ,it is the birds that call to my heart as they struggle to share our suburbs and cities that sprawl across the earth. I admire their tenacity as they nest where wood meets wire; where factory meets forests ....when they sing, I see in my mind the forests they remember and lo...ng for ..... We must dim the city lights so that we can again, feel small beneath the stars and the vast universe that spreads out further than the eye can see or the soul can know...I believe as long as we light up the night we forget our place upon this planet. We are blinded by our own sparkling cities ....In the birds song I feel what could and should be ; we must make of this earth a garden so that all things survive including our own species.... See more
19.01.2022 "Run Run Reynard" ; the last fox in Bellambi lives in the scrub land by the sea ~ a 2 minute speed drawing in ink...I love testing my skill by limiting my time...its challenging but also fun and quite exciting.I don't breathe while I draw. In any case with a creature as quick and elusive as a fox you have no time ! I wanted to capture this last fox before he is gone...I hope to convey his lithe and lean body and the way he runs ; sweeping across the meadow in a majestic ribbo...n of red. I have no doubt he knows his days are numbered ...I hope he survives . He has survived the cull or rather the "kill" before ...with the rabbits returning he is far more likely to feast upon them than any native creature...he somehow belongs ...I have seen him weave his way through the rushes and reeds to catch a mouse...not a native mouse but the kind that creep into houses...I have caught his eye and felt his spirit...we have touched this way many times...he knows I mean him no harm...I know that in Australia the fox is considered a feral pest but that does not diminish my love of these glorious and intelligent creatures ! After all our species introduced them here and they have no choice but to try and survive as any living thing does ! ...In any case human beings are far more destructive and it is interesting how we use the definition "feral" and define the destruction of habitat and the environment in a way that benefits our wants ,because in my eyes destroying vast swathes of native land for farming and introducing non-native hooved animals such as cows,sheep and horses has caused far more devestation and damage than is ever really properly acknowledged ....in any case I love foxes and they have their place upon this earth as any other creature.When I lived in England for several years ,some of my most magical memories are enchanting encounters with foxes ... See more
15.01.2022 I was thrilled when ASPECT (Autism Spectrum Australia) told me that 5 artists with Autism from Para Meadows School had studied my art this year and been inspired to create these amazing art works ! I went to see them today in The Community Gallery in the Wollongong Art Gallery . I feel so honoured. Thank you Jeremy,Caden, Bella, Callum and Thomas. I am inspired by you !
12.01.2022 I have 3 art works in the exhibition "For The Wild" in the Old Fire Station In Kiama fundraising for the Wilderness Society . The opening night is tomorrow 10/05/2019 at 6 pm and the last day is the 15th of May 2019.
11.01.2022 "My Home Too :Flame Robin On a Wire" : part of the "My Home Too" Series . Our species changes the very landscape of this planet ;sculpting the environment to meet our short term needs at the expense of our own kind and all the other creatures we share the earth with . Birds are to my mind the most poignant reminder of how far we push our concrete jungles as we continue displace the meadow and forest.They cling so bravely to the edge-lands where industry encroaches on the wilderness; perching on wire as they would a branch while still singing their songs and seeking spaces and places to nest and rest....we need to make sure that our cities become more humble ,greener and sustainable and most of all filled with gardens and rich wild corridors of trees...
07.01.2022 My New Art Work "The Ravens Lullaby" ;.an art work inspired by my Raven friends Waru and Bran (King and Queen of the Illawarra Raven flock) bringing 3 of their babies to visit me . Last week they chose to leave one of their fledglings with me ,who I shall name Corbel (The ancient French word for Raven ) . Corbel may now bathe in the blue bowl after much negotiating with the guardian of the garden , my friend the Willie Wagtail Chiri~Chiri ......Waru is the Raven in featured ...here .In the art work the mushrooms represent the door-way to mother-nature ; the key to the Ravens heart that allows me to communicate with them. I have made the key too large to fit the lock because it is more about "opening" the heart which in turn opens the door (The size of the key is irrelevant ) .The cage represents the careful keeping of the Ravens young ,but is a also a visual reminder that we need to be free of the artificial constraints limiting our freedom that our species often imposes on things ; cages that do not actually exist . The golden beetle represents the art of looking and seeing (since it is so small to notice).The web represents the web of life which is broken to represent human beings failure to respect it (But the web can be repaired) .The trees represent the sacred nature of all living things and the connections between life and also death . The moon represents "the mystery" we must all accept and the "unknowing" of all we think we know.The stars are there to remind us that there is so much more than we can hold in our grasp...but most of all the work encompasses "magic" ; the wonder of being part of the mystery of everything.... See more
02.01.2022 ONE OF THE REMAINING FEW ART-WORKS THAT EXIST FROM MY CHILDHOOD (Ink & water-colour)...I'm glad this painting survived. The magpie ,Karlu was my dear friend. She protected me valiantly from bullies and paid the cost with her life . The police were called to protect the family who had caused me the greatest harm and she was shot (An extraordinary action that could NOT take place to day. I put it down to the fact that the mother of the 3 children bullying me was exceptionally p...retty . The police had no interest in protecting me from her children ! ) I often think of this brave bird; my protector. She often visited me at school and was known to come into the library at story-time.I spent countless hours reading books or drawing in my sketch-pad in the corner of our garden with her by my side. One sunny spring I painted her and this art work is now a treasured memory of the love we shared...(Her full name was Kirri-Kiki-Karlu as she spoke it...or so her song seemed to say ) See more
02.01.2022 I'M IN THE PROCESS OF PAINTING A BLUE WREN IN GOUCHE ,LAYER AFTER LAYER AFTER LAYER.IT TAKES MANY HOURS, SOMETIMES DAYS TO COMPLETE.I LOVE WATCHING IT SLOWLY BUT SURELY COME ALIVE ON THE PAPER.
