Unravelling ecologies presents two bodies of work that contemplate Earth’s fragile and complex ecosystems.
Leela Schäuble, Ourania (Rani) Amvrazis
Curated by Anouska Phizacklea
Leela Schäuble’s series Growing in the Dark was developed during a residency with the LABVERDE’s Artist Immersion Program in the Amazon Rainforest. Schäuble was struck by the way plants have found a way to resist and thrive throughout cycles of change. She responded with a series of photographs that depict plants cloning themselvesas they adapt to extreme changes in the environment.
In her photographs plants appear to emerge from a dark inky abyss – an act of resilience and resistance in the face of global inaction to tackle climate change. This is the first time the work has been exhibited in Australia, having previously been included in Subsequence Landscapes at Kotaro Nukaga Gallery, Tokyo (2020).
Ourania (Rani) Amvrazis’s large-scale installation Sonic ecologies is a new body of work that extends her practice of sculpting with sound using emergent technologies. Sound is ephemeral, fragile and constantly surrounds us: it shapes, reflects and responds to the environment. Sonic ecologies translates sound into a physical form, making visible the energy that you cannot see.
The sound sculptures are reminiscent of architectural forms that bind together in the creation of a city scape, placed amongst mountainous forms and hover overhead: a distillation of fragments of time, moment and memory. The complex layering of sound is echoed within the site-specific installation, highlighting the omnipresence of sound that affects every aspect of our human experience, shaping our lives and our environment.
Growing in the Dark and Sonic ecologies are two bodies of work that draw our attention to fragile ecologies – to biological ecosystems and energy forces. Schäuble is a plea for action on climate change by world leaders, while showing nature’s resistance to humanity's destruction. Amvrazis makes invisible the visible, changing our perspective on how we view the world and the forces that surround us.
Unravelling Ecologies is presented by the Melbourne Chinatown Business Association and Australia China Art Foundation as part of the 2025 Chinese Lunar New Year Festival Official Art Program Melbourne Chinatown.