Colony II (detail)

Colony II was an installation of mobiles in the National Park at Kurnell in Sydney. Set against the background of an apocalyptic sunset, the mobiles of small, flying creatures clattered as they spun frenetically in the sea breeze. The site for the mobiles was a patch of bushland blackened and denuded by fire, perched atop the spectacular cliffs of Kurnell.

Colonialism is an aggressive take over of land. Kurnell is the site of Captain Cook’s first landing in Australia. This ‘colony’ of insects, like the colony of European settlers, has undergone a flight and transition followed by an aggressive presence in new territory. Both are societies in a constant state of re-grouping, reforming.