Local set to create lead artwork for M2M

OCEAN Grove artist Kerrie Bedson will help create “Canoe” – the lead ephemeral artwork for the multi-award winning biennial event Mountain to Mouth.

Ms Bedson will work in collaboration with award-winning multimedia artist Leslie Pearson from the USA.

Ms Pearson is a multimedia artist who utilises many fibre-based materials, processes and techniques to create sculptures and installations in which she explores themes of memory and identity.

She pursues art as a studio artist, community arts advocate and educator.

The Canoe Commission has been made possible by funding from founding partner Deakin University.

Both artists are inspired by nature to explore themes of memory and identity in the context of the 2018 theme, Earth.

The materials used by Ms Pearson and Ms Bedson will guide the form and function of Canoe and will be utilised to create a sculpture of beauty and strength.

Mountain to Mouth artistic director Margie Mackay said the beautiful, dark and edgy design of Canoe, reflecting the 2018 theme of Earth, would create a visceral response in the Mountain to Mouth audience. “It melds beauty and fragility with a haunting reminder of our mortality and the imminent threat to our planet,” Ms Mackay said.

During Mountain to Mouth, held on Friday May 4 to Saturday May 5, Canoe will traverse 80 kilometres across the City of Greater Geelong and the Borough of Queenscliffe, from the You Yangs to the mouth of the Barwon River.