Floating Lands Art Camp

From October 20-25, 2024, seventeen selected artists gathered at Lake Cootharaba for the Floating Lands Art Camp, an event made possible by Michael Brennan and the Noosa Regional Gallery. This program was structured to foster guided and independent exploration of ideas for potential inclusion in the 2025 Floating Land exhibition, Escape Making.

Facilitated by acclaimed New York artist and curator Kendal Henry, the five-day camp featured workshops, one-on-one mentoring, group discussions, cultural learnings (from Kabi Kabi elder Lydon Davis) and an immersive sound walk led by Dr. Leah Barclay.

Participation in this camp was a privilege, affording dedicated time to art development, immersive time in nature and thoughtful, critical dialogue with fellow artists.

Below are some personal insights from the across the five days!

Sunday – Monday

I arrived Sunday afternoon to check in and was immediately struck by all the kangaroo families gathered around the glamping tents. The participants met up in the afternoon for a quick introduction before regrouping again for dinner at the Bistro. Both the accommodation and bistro were fantastic and I can highly recommend a stay at Habitat, Noosa.

Monday we gathered for a cultural walk with Kabi Kabi elder Lyndon Davis and then a live sound walk performance from Leah Barclay. Both artists set the tone for the camp ahead. It was an emotional few hours, reflecting on ancestors, zooming into nature, feeling the presence of my Dad. I watched the waves coiling in and out, the moving grasses, the softness of the environment. I started to have visions of overlapping venn diagrams, each showing a person with their own narrative. Quite a psychedelic or at least soul-led experience.

In the afternoon Kendal Henry an artist & curator from New York (and facilitator for the camp) ran us through an amazing slideshow of public art examples. A big take away for me was the difference between public art and art in public. Public art becomes successful when the community takes ownership, and where the artwork is site specific and only makes sense where it’s placed. Art in public, is art that can be placed anywhere without the location changing its context. I also got to have a 1:1 with Michael Brennan (Noosa Gallery director) which was a huge delight and helpful to start articulating a direction I wanted to head in.

Managed a “swim” lay/float in the shallows and a wander in the paperback forest.

I stayed up late thinking about art.

habitat paperbark glamping tent

joey outside paperbark glamping tent

inside habitat paperbark glamping

Kabi Kabi elder Lyndon Davis at Lake Cootharaba

wind moving through the grasses

cultural walk with Lyndon Davis

sound walk led by Dr. Leah Barclay

sound walk participants guided by Leah Barclay

TUESDAY

Tuesday’s thinking (prompted by Kendal) was how to translate observations of place to an audience and to test out ideas to a public (nonart) audience. Kendal mentioned that we had the perfect opportunity with the campground attendees.

My observations:
Clear water, calm, simple, quartz, paperpark, white egret, sand, at home with trees – direct spirit.

I bought several books to read including, The Power of Now. My mantra for the day ‘alert presence’ came from the book. An idea struck me in the pages, about the true beauty of an artwork existing in capturing something in the present. So I sat down and drew what was interesting to me, the quartz on the lake shoreline.

A old gentlemen came up to me:

“You drawing the roots of the trees?”

“I’m actually trying to draw all the bits of quartz”

“Ah very interesting”

I also went down a huge advertisement rabbit hole, subverting text & graphics, using what’s already in the public. Fears crept in of not being grateful enough, not making the most beautiful art, not listening enough, fears of showing my humanness to others.

In the evening Fin and Jospeph set up by the lake (as the sun set) and created a sound collaboration with nature (such a highlight). At night we had a bonfire and I got to chat with the other artists. As I was explaining areas I was interested in, Debbie, Donna and Lisa told me to focus on what I really want to do, I noted down, back at my tent, “go full woo woo”.

white quartz everywhere

orchids in bloom

Fin Wegener and Joseph Burgess at Lake Cootharaba

Madeleine Joy Dawes beading

Fin Wegener playing flute

WEDNESDAY

wed mantra: lead with strong soul. Had a morning cry in the forest, talked to the trees, carried this mantra with me for the day.

Wednesday we had a drawing workshop with artist Juan Ford. Juan challenged us to draw exactly what was in front of us. The day before I had drawn the quartz on the sand but I hadn’t forced myself to record with accuracy. Juan talked about his practice collapsing borders between the human and natural realm and how drawing utilises the simplest materials alongside our bodies. His advice was to start tiny and add complexity to your drawing as you go, paying attention to the points where materials overlap. I noted down “Enter with spirit of patience. Visual meditation with world”. He challenged us to “Begin with what you find interesting”. I knew I needed to redraw the quartz on the sand, so I set up and stayed in the same spot for a couple of hours.

In the afternoon we had small group sessions with Juan to discuss anything on our minds. I was worried I may have too many ideas, Corrie suggested the idea of combining ideas, pulling bits from one idea into another. James mentioned how by default public art will inflict its own barriers on ideas.

After the group session, I was fortunate to have a 1:1 with Kendal. All these swirling fears dissipated during our chat where Kendal emphasised that the simplest idea is often the best. He was able to point out some astute observations and highlight the core of what I wanted my art to do. I left feeling incredibly free as if someone had gifted me an “okay to be yourself” pass.

Spent more time in nature, going for walks, sitting with trees, swimming in the lake.
Madeleine had lent me The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh so I popped that into my reading list.

butterfly friend

rubbish find at Lake Cootharaba

drawing quartz more closely

THURSDAY – FRIDAY

Thursday was our last full day before pack up on Friday.

Several artists had mentioned the magic of the early morning, so I headed down to the lake at 5:30 am. The morning light was beautiful, the forest was glowing, and I was also able to get super close to the grazing kangaroos & spy a stingray in the shallows. Thursday was a choose-your-own adventure day. I had done several shorter walks during the week but decided to walk the 2+ hour trek to Kin Kin Creek. I spent the day working through seeds of ideas Kendal had planted, feeling inspired, and talking to trees. Really big shifts occur during the camp. I lost my ambition or at least redirected my focus, to simply exist as a fragment of the universe and to see my job as an artist was just to make ideas a reality.

The camp closed out with an evening storm, I heard Fin and Jospeh creating music in a tent beside and I sat and wrote poetry. Poetry came very easily over the week. After the storm, Yanni gathered us to watch the most beautiful sunset complete with a rainbow. We had our final dinner together at the bistro and several artists projected their works onto the tents at night. Yanni bunked with me on the final night. Was a lovely way to close out the camp.

When Friday morning arrived, I had a strong longing to return to Nambour.