Artist contributions to Leaves - Palmer Sculpture Biennial 2026

Lisa Conolly

I worked with Liz Ports to manage the Leaves project.  My visits to the casuarina grove inspired drawings of the casuarina seeds, and abstract forms of casuarina shadows on the ground.  I created about four metres  of drawings of casuarina seeds on calico, which were sewn with  wire mesh inserted so they could be shaped to form a  sculptured piece coiling around the central casuarina tree.  I made many smaller wedge shaped pieces that were inspired by shadows of the casuarina trees . These were designed to be interspersed among other art works and help create the spiral shape.

It was a joy to receive so many different textile works and a privilege to prepare most of these works for ground installation. I used canvas, calico or blue sheets for backing, and added crochet edges or looped edges for threading rope.  Some had inserts to take wire mesh which added form.​  I liken this to framing the textile work - as well as making it possible to install.  This page shows just a few examples of the textile works that I framed.