Osmosis Artists

Linden Langdon

etching - queenstown

Etching series

There is a gentle, quiet and persistant sense of engagement between man and the environment in Queenstown. Despite the industrial dominance over Mount Lyell, the buildings seem to threaten to melt back into the forest from which they came, slowly and without protest.

The first series I am working on endevours to embrace this question of stance for the residents in this environment. The etchings are printed onto BFK Rives 300gsm paper that I have dyed with eucalyptus leaves and acacia flowers.

Further work has been developed from a conversation about the white waratah which has been gradually re-establishing itself in the vicinity of the Queenstown hills. The completed works are a lino cut and ceramic vase.

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2010 Exhibition

Linden Langdon

Born in a home nestled behind the Casuarina lined sand dunes of Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, appreciation of our connectedness with all things natural was as apparent as the grains of sand between my toes and the whispering tunes of the wind passing through the Casuarina needles. The professional development of my art practice began after the completion of a Bachelor of Arts in 2003 and continues with the study of ceramics following the completion of a Master of Fine Art by research in 2009.

Artist Statement

Descending into Queenstown along the face of the scarred hills the topography of the townships location becomes apparent. The realistion of its basin like form is accentuated from the lookout on Spoin Kop – a small hill that offers a 360 degree view of the superb mountain ranges encompassing the mine and township. The Mount Lyell mine spears deep into the earth following its copper core and provides the traditional life blood of the town’s people. Questions arise; would Queenstown survive without the mine? and if the hills became forested with the dense temperate rainforest species that surround and press inward on the town, what would be the consequences? I am reminded of a dear friend who spent time living in the tropical forest of the Daintree before it was declared a protected zone. She emerged from the bulldozed huts with skin so pale and blotched with sores; and closer to home my own experience of living in a forested valley on the Tasman Peninsula. Human habitation, perhaps, requires space and light and air movement. Air, which can carry with it the promise of a warm day, cold snaps, cool breezes or the startling drama of fire.

I like to think that Queenstown will endure and embrace all the challenges that lay ahead. I like small towns. They have a defined space, defined population and the scale of its boundaries encourages life beyond the comfort of the lounge room, shops or entertainment of mediocrity. Queenstown has a pulse that pushes back the moss and lichen which threatens to devour every surface, a pulse that beats steadily as the mix of locally born and adventurous spirits work together. My work endeavours to tap into the challenges and pleasures of living in Queenstown on Tasmania’s West Coast.