LESLEY MEANEY - Becoming Australian

Shortly after her training in England, Lesley Meaney migrated to Australia in 1969, as a young art teacher. These 366 pages are a visual journey of her 50 years in Terra Australis - of her curiosity and of her evolution in responding to this country. In her own words, Lesley states: "It took twenty years of living, working and travelling throughout Australia before I felt eligible to apply for citizenship. It's not about making a decision, or even choosing. My journey in becoming...
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Shortly after her training in England, Lesley Meaney migrated to Australia in 1969, as a young art teacher. These 366 pages are a visual journey of her 50 years in Terra Australis - of her curiosity and of her evolution in responding to this country. In her own words, Lesley states: "It took twenty years of living, working and travelling throughout Australia before I felt eligible to apply for citizenship. It's not about making a decision, or even choosing. My journey in becoming Australian, from deep within, has been a slow process; my immersion into the landscape, especially my five years in the North West, has been a partner in that journey. I feel I have now taken root, like one of the eucalypts - trees, which I think represent the soul of our sunburnt country". These pages reveal her response to the smorgasbord of colours, shapes and designs that emerge, when one looks closely to the wealth of material waiting to be discovered in nature's bounty in her adopted country. Lesley Meaney is a technician, a master of a number of crafts, which she employs in her work. However, she also states: "I cannot predict what I will be creating next year, next month or even next week. Past works are merely prologue - like a line in a poem, or cadence in music". She is also aware that she is fortunate to live in a time, in a place and in circumstances that enable her, not only to share her images, but also to surrender to her own aesthetics.