“Edge of the Trees” by Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley
“Edge of the Trees” is a collaborative public art installation created by artist Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley.
The artwork is constructed with 29 vertical pillars made from different materials such as wood, steel, and sandstone, collaborating with other organic materials and sound elements.
This public art installation evokes the cultural and physical history of the site.
The intention of “Edge of the Trees” is to interpret and make reference to the past. It references the indigenous, the displaced, and the land.
The artwork symbolizes the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people at this site, which was a significant site of early contact.
The artwork delivers multiple layers of memories through the language of materials, naming, mapping, and memories.
View of one of the timber pillars with Latin and Aboriginal language engravings
Janet Laurence is a Sydney based Australian artist whose work explores our relationship to the natural world, often from an architectural context.
She has exhibited in galleries and outside in site-specific projects, involving collaborations with architects, landscape architects, and environmental scientists.
Fiona Foley is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist who uses her art to explore the tensions between sex, race, and history and their various constructions.
Australian Aboriginal Sayings and Quotes: Australian Aboriginal Sayings and Quotes
Edge of the Trees
- Title: Edge of the Trees
- Artist: Janet Laurence in collaboration with Fiona Foley
- Year: 1995
- Type: Sculpture
- Medium: Sandstone, wood, steel, oxides, shells, honey, bones, zinc, glass, sound
- Museum: Museum of Sydney
Janet Laurence
- Name: Janet Laurence
- Born: 1947 – Sydney, Australia
- Nationality: Australian
Fiona Foley
- Name: Fiona Foley
- Born: 1964 – Badtjala, Fraser Island, Queensland.
- Nationality: Australian
Highlights of the Museum of Sydney
- “Edge of the Trees” by Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley
- Captain Arthur Phillip Memorial
- Sydney Boundary Stone 1833
A Virtual Tour of the Museums in Australia
Museums in Australia
Australian Proverbs and Quotes
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“Those who lose dreaming are lost.”
– Australian Proverb
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Photo Credit: 1) By Pingpengpong (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 2) By Pingpengpong (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons