Wickham Landing Cape

Wickham Landing Cape

paper made from marine macroalgae and shore plants on silk

179 x 103 cm (framed)

The Wickham Landing Cape is made for one of the survivors from the Neva shipwreck off Cape Wickham, King Island, on 13 May 1835. There were only 6 women survivors.

This life-sized cape is constructed of paper which has been formed from seaweeds and shore plants gathered from Cape Wickham. The Wickham Landing Cape details the woman’s journey from the shipwreck site to the shore at Cape Wickham.The main part of the Wickham Landing Cape represents the sea, the base of the garment being the sea bed and the higher part the shallower water. Seaweeds from the sub tidal zone rising to the shallower intertidal zone have been used here.

The collar represents the shore. It is fringed with white foam from sun bleached red and green seaweeds, above which are rocks strewn with bull kelp and other brown seaweeds that have been cast ashore by the surf.

The hood represents the dry land of Cape Wickham. From the wrecked Neva it must have seemed very small and distant above the great expanse of sea. The lower hood is made from Cushion Bush and Grey Saltbush which line the shore. Higher up are Seaberry Saltbush, Bower Spinach, Club-sedge and Sword-sedge. There is of course no lighthouse atop the Cape – this was not built until 1861.

The Wickham Landing Cape thus not only tells the story of the Neva survivor’s landing on Cape Wickham, it is also a botanical and visual lands-cape.

This work was a selected as a finalist in the 2016 Bruny Island Art Prize.