Miranda Bellamy is our current artist in The Booth, a site-specific proposal space which we invite artists to submit work to annually. Miranda recently completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in 2019, and is now based in Dunedin.
Can you tell us a little bit about your work that has been in Gus Fisher Gallery’s exhibition programme?
The work I had on show at the Gus Fisher before everything went into lockdown is called Pathfinding. It’s constructed from fluorescent pink ‘trail tape’, ordinarily used to mark paths through the forest. Pathfinding repurposes the classic word-search puzzle. The grid of letters filling the space initially appears incoherent, but from this jumble words begin to emerge. Hidden words include those used in medical terminology, chosen for their significance to my personal experience of transition.
Miranda Bellamy, Pathfinding, 2019. Photograph by Sam Hartnett.
Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteaux with American Chestnut. Image supplied.
What have you been working on since then?
I am still feeding off the momentum from a residency at the Vermont Studio Centre late last year (pictured). Amanda and I have been collaborating on projects that attempt to queer ways of seeing. We are particularly interested in storying wild plants. The lockdown is an opportunity for us to get to know our community of plant neighbours right on our doorstep in Dunedin’s magnificent town belt.
How have you been affected by Covid-19 professionally?
I have an exhibition booked for early next year in Canada which is likely to be effected, a residency I had confirmed has been indefinitely postponed. I work freelance, so all of the upcoming work I was relying of has evaporated. It all sounds disappointing, but I am used to rolling with the punches so it will be OK. I try not to take for granted my privilege, safety and good health amongst all this.
On location, recording plant biodata for Listening to Our Plant Neighbours. Image supplied.
Transgenic Blight Resistant American Chestnut Tree unveiling ceremony. Image supplied.
Can you describe the home you are currently self-isolating in to us?
My household and bubble is my partner Amanda and I. We live in a villa in central Dunedin with a huge garden. The house is old and wonky and filled with quirks but we love it.
Is there another artist you would like to put the “spotlight” on, that people should know about?
I’m curious about the work of David Ed Cooper.
If you weren’t in self-isolation, which exhibition would you be visiting?
I’m a bit sad to have missed Imogen Taylor’s Sapphic Fragments at the Hocken.
What are you doing to entertain/occupy yourself in self-isolation?
I have always been easily entertained, so I’m not intimidated by lockdown. I am renovating the house, working on the garden/ landscaping, cooking lots of beautiful food and I plan to redo my website.
Do you have any podcast, book, television, etc. recommendations for us?
I’m hoping to get a spend more time with the lynda.com archives. Free membership with your Auckland library card is a best kept secret!
Transgenic Blight Resistant Chestnut Tree plaque. Image supplied.