Gretel Taylor and Gülsen Özer were both living in the Dandenong Ranges (Corhanwarrabul) in June 2021 when an extreme windstorm felled approximately 20% of the area’s trees. A meteorological explanation purported that the wind that night had come from an unusual direction - the southeast - that the Mountain Ash trees were not accustomed to withstanding. This project evolved from Gülsen Özer’s concept as the artists’ homage to their experiences of the effects of severe wind upon environments and communities.

Taylor and Özer committed to a simultaneous daily practice over seven days in March 2023, whereby each artist would stand and then move in their respective environments, to sense, observe and respond to the wind. The artists conceived this practice as a return to the body as a powerful site for meaning-making, perception, and value in unpredictable times.

The performance at the opening of Invisible Winds exhibition comprised a series of gestures derived from the daily sessions, performed in the gallery as a duet: an embodied mapping of affect.

Gülsen Özer & Gretel Taylor - dance
Laki Sideris - photography

From where I stand was presented as a photographic exhibition, performance and workshop for Invisible Winds exhibition, curated by Tammy Wong Hulbert, Marnie Badham and Pia Johnson, Climarte Gallery, Melbourne.

https://climarte.org/project/invisible-winds/

Supported by RMIT, Climarte and Regional Arts Victoria