Bodies on the Line

Including my body silhouette in the forest drawings on muslin

Passion leads us on unique paths. I’ve followed many passions in my life and devised crazy, wild projects but nothing prepared me for the scale of being part of a massive organisation to save old growth native forests. It has now become my overriding passion.

Will I lay my body on the line? Could I ‘lock on’ to a bulldozer to stop logging? I’m not sure yet whether I could do this, but at this stage I can certainly make art about putting your body on the line to protect the forests.

Old growth forests are amazing. Walking into the overwhelming greeness of moss on fallen and standing trees was like entering an enchanted world of forest sprites and tree fairies. I swear the trees were talking to each other as we entered. I wanted to say a little “hello, we come in peace” greeting. Maybe I did, but silently.

Lying in my tent at night I could hear the owls calling. In the morning, the dawn chorus, subdued at first and then in full stereophonic sound. I didn’t have to venture far from my tent to find inspiration for art.

While many of the other artists in my camp went off to explore the nearby coupes that are scheduled for logging, I stayed behind to create. I didn’t want to do any additional scrambling over uneven terrain or hike deeper into the forest to see glow-worms at night.

For me the inspiration was all around on the forest floor. You could drop a frame in any one place and find nature’s perfect compositions. Tiny tendrils of curling lichen or strange variegated brown tutu fungis growing on the underside of moss covered logs.

I also knew that to continue to witness the clear-felling destruction that was just across the road, would send me into an emotional meltdown. Many of the artists returned from their forest hikes saddened by visiting the forest coupes that are so vulnerable and unprotected they might be gone forever within the next few months.

I knew that the only way I could keep my hope alive was to stay within my little forest camp and focus on advocating for the delicacy of tiny fungi, moss and trees so knobbled and gnarled they were houses for all sorts of forest creatures.

I wanted to show the forest that we were advocating for their protection, drawing our bodies on the line for them. I brought out my muslin, wrapped it around the tree near the camp kitchen and invited people to ‘take a stand’. I then drew around their bodies with a sharpie texta and later outlined the shapes in ink (adding a plastic barrier between tree and muslin so I left no marks).

In five other places in Takayna, artists were creating art, writing and performing. At one camp I filmed a baby grand piano being unloaded onto a stage under a tarp so that one of the artists, a musician/composer from Adelaide, could make music with the forest and perform it at the camp he was in each evening.

The organisation of the event, with 140 artists and over 50 volunteers was astounding. We were cooked for, transported and supported so that we could come back to the world to show people that these heritage forests need protecting. Thankyou to the Bob Brown Foundation for giving me this amazing opportunity to share this with others. Never underestimate the power of people to change the world (and government policies!).

Forestfloor marks on kozo papers

Myrtle Forest Floor 2025