Forest Rain 2026

Forest rain was selected for the inaugural Sidney Nolan prize and was exhibited at The Sidney Nolan Trust in herefordshire from July- October 2026. Click bottom right image for video documentation.

Forest Rain is created by layering gauze and string to multiply and elongate the moving image so it appears as an object in space. It collages fragments of imagery to create a visual poem that feeds the imagination of the viewer; The aim is for people to think about our complex relationship with the current global weather system but also to bask in a magical and alluring experience. Sound is created through the interaction of mostly synthesised sounds with natural materials distributed around the space including eucalyptus bark, pebbles, shells, dry leaves and buckwheat husks. Using transducers, these are made to vibrate to produce realistic spatialised rain effects surrounding the audience as well as more abstracted sounds.

Traditionally, landscape artists (often in the service of landowners) have tended to avoid depictions of rain, possibly seeing it as an intrusion on the beauty of the represented environment. However, today, changing weather patterns, particularly problematic imbalances of rain fall, are of pressing concern, leading us to understand the value of rain to our very existence. This work highlights and celebrates rain fall in its many manifestations and as a necessity as well as a rich embodied experience. We feel that as we are currently in the midst of a climate crisis, now is the right time to re-interrogate the genre of landscape art with a contemporary twist. This work is joyful but is also a reminder of the problematic relationship humans now have with their environment.

This and other installations we’ve created, are deliberately spaces of calm contemplation and absorption, even if they are also calls to action. We have found from extensive feedback that this is an aspect that is greatly appreciated, indeed needed, in the current anxious times.