Getting her ducks in a row

GROWING up in Port Melbourne, Robyn Fisher would draw the inner-city rooftops and chimneys outside her bedroom window.

Moving to Ballarat, this fascination continued, and it meant she discovered chimney-dwelling wood ducks.

“I had never heard of wood ducks or seen them on a chimney before, but I found out a lot of other people also love chimneys and wood ducks, so I got lots of commissions to paint peoples’ chimneys with wood ducks on them,” she said.

This theme has become Fisher’s passion and niche, and is the focus of her first-ever solo exhibition, Chimney Dwellers, now on at Art Space Ballarat until early-February.

“I go for a walk, take photos of chimneys around me, and the birds. I love the aesthetic of the chimneys; they’re all so different,” she said.

“They also tell a story about the age of the house, or wealth, while the birds bring humour to the paintings.”

With a background in environmental science, Fisher said the visual stories she tells have a layer about urbanisation.

“Since colonisation, wildlife has adapted, including wood ducks, which are tree-nesting birds which have adapted to nesting in chimneys,” she said.

“Ballarat local people will often talk about hearing wood ducks quacking in their fireplaces.”

Fisher’s show has been open since last weekend, and she said it has encouraged visitors to look up more often.

“People are going home, looking for wood ducks and birds, and are becoming aware of the diversity of animals that live in Ballarat now, and are adapting.

“Ballarat’s growing so quickly. A lot of animals have been displaced with removal of grasslands, so I’m really interested to see how animals adapt and whether they continue to come back,” she said