Heron Island Suite
#1 - #20
In 2009, Judy Watson attended a residency at the University of Queensland’s Heron Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef. During her time there, she explored the coral reef, swam and dived in the surrounding waters, discovered plants and animals, attended lectures by eminent researchers, and learned about the effects of climate change on coral and marine life. This island experience, from her own explorations to the growing sense of urgency imparted by the scientists, resulted in a body of work made using a range of techniques. In a series of prints that express her reaction to the challenges the island and its environment now face, she combines her outdoor drawings with research graphs from scientists, reproduced with their permission.
Dumularra is the Waanyi word for running water. Watson’s forebears, and members of her Waanyi nation from northwest Queensland, are known as the “running water people.” Drawing from her research and ancestral knowledge, Watson makes connections among water, living beings, and place while stressing the importance of listening to Indigenous communities to find solutions to the climate crisis.
clouds and undercurrents
Ten years after the creation of Heron Island Suite, a work expressing her reaction to the challenges the island and its environment were facing, Judy Watson produced clouds and undercurrents (2020–21), adding a more physical process to her relationship with water. For this project, she immersed large pieces of fabric and other materials in dye baths. Moving to the sound of music, she performed a “dance on the water,” stepping into the bath and trampling the cloth beneath her feet, then spreading it out and letting it dry. Suspended from the ceiling, the final installation evokes the relationship between water and sky, as if we were both standing beneath clouds and submerged by waves. The overall installation repurposes research graphs on climate change, creating a bridge between data-driven perspectives and Watson’s own embodied movement.
