Transcribe - Libby Derham

Photo Credit: Sasha Parlett - Red Handed Media

Transcribe is the debut solo exhibition and video launch for Sunshine Coast artist Libby Derham. Held in the Arts & Ecology Centre at Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden, open Wednesdays through to Sundays, 7th to the 29th January.

As part of the exhibition, Libby will be launching a visually stunning new video, ‘Sensing the Landscape: Through a Painter’s Eyes’ about her process that also celebrates the Sunshine Coast and what the region has to offer to inspire artists. The video was made possible thanks to support from Regional Arts Development Fund, Sunshine Coast Council and the Friends of the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens.

The exhibition of new work captures expressive and abstracted views of the Sunshine Coast with Libby’s distinctive sensory layers woven in. The works demonstrate a love for loose watercolours landscapes and both the exhibition and video capture her highly intuitive and expressive approach to painting.

The sensory aspect of the environment is important to Libby, both her sons are high-functioning Autism, and she says ‘I am always learning about sensory needs’ with them.

Award-winning artist Libby Derham explains her process “I begin by listening to the sounds of nature, the calls of birds, and note these down on paper with pencil or masking fluid – I transcribe the birdsong to line”. With a deep connection to place, Libby has always an appreciation of the natural world, growing up in England with what she calls “a backyard full of birds” “we lived with a stream at the bottom of the garden and woods behind our house, it was full of birds, I would go exploring”.

Libby comes from a long line of watercolourists going back four generations. “I grew up learning from my Grandfather, he would encourage me to draw every day. My Mum and I paint every week together, we appreciate it”. She often works with unusual surfaces such as envelopes, stemming from connections of migration, renewal, and collections of family letters. Libby’s work considers the importance of diversity in the environment and the effect of climate change on the avian world.

The video can be viewed continuously as part of the exhibition and a preview viewed now on Libby’s website. There will be workshop and children’s rolling drop-in activities as part of the exhibition throughout January at the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden.

More Info: www.libbyderham.com

Video Credit: Sam Hagen - The Human Story