Claire Paul is a Sydney-based artist who works across drawing, photography, and printmaking. With a focus on eco-friendly processes and materials, her practice seeks to encourage audiences to look beyond contemporary life and consider humanity’s intrinsic reliance upon the natural environment, questioning at what point did this relationship depart from being symbiotic?

PSIDIUM,

Being the Latin word for “invasive”, the title encompasses the entirety of this series. Psidium is a drawing project which magnifies elements in our environment that are discarded and forgotten by humanity. These overlooked endemic flora species possess the identity of native Australia and the lengthy history connected to it, however, their population continues to decline due to the domination of invasive plants. Six endangered species have been drawn on handmade paper crafted from invasive vegetation to reflect the competition between native and introduced species in nature. Acting as a tribute of remembrance to these plants, the series suggests that representations such as drawings will eventually be our only way to access imagery of these species.