Surrounded - The Triangle Community Newspaper

‘Surrounded’ – to feel encircled, to be enclosed, besieged, protected or embraced. Artists Nelia Eichler and Magella Blinksell share a heartfelt homage to sea forests, kelp, moths, and migration – exploring the flipped sides of strength and fragility, threat and safety.

During the fires of 2019/2020 the word ‘surrounded’ held its own resonances and realities.

In the long aftermath of healing, the act of surrounding ourselves with nature’s beauty felt like medicine. Particularly amidst the increased uncertainties of the world.

Nelia lives on Djirringanj Country in Cobargo and I live at Guerilla Bay on Walbanga-Yuin Country.

Our time spent exploring Burrewarra Point, and Nelia’s time in Lutruwita/Tasmania, have given rise to this shared exhibition.

Nelia’s paper and wire sculptures are an ode to the power of sea kelp forests. These vital ecosystems act as important climate mediators, capturing carbon amidst the rising level of fossil fuel pollution that threatens both our planet – and our survival.

My works – prints, cyanotypes and screen-printed fabrics – pay homage to the Yuin Sea Country; something that delights, surprises and physically surrounds me on Burrewarra Point.

Both our works depict holdfasts, the part of kelp that anchors onto rock or seabed. In a world surrounded by forced exoduses and disruption, and existential climate threats, holdfasts remind us of the important anchors that we seek out, amidst dramatic events.

In October, a spring migration of Bogong moths spectacularly surrounded us. Amidst the devastating impacts of droughts, habitat loss, climate pressures and bushfires, this urgent 1,000 km odyssey has stirred memories. As the Bogongs make their way to the cool caves of the Alpine area, guided by the Milky Way (the Celestial Mooreeya Emu that arcs above and around them) printmaking has been a way to honour their perseverance and beauty.

Surrounded runs from Thursday, 5 November to Sunday, 29 November 2026. You are warmly invited to the opening of the exhibition on Saturday, 7 November at 4.30 pm at the Lazy Lizard Gallery in Cobargo.

The Lazy Lizard Gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm, and Saturday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.

Magella Blinksell

Above right: artwork from Surrounded.

Acknowledgment of Country

The Triangle is a community paper, principally for the region bounded by the three prominent mountains: Peak Alone, Gulaga and Mumbulla. It is produced on the traditional lands of the Yuin nation and we acknowledge that this was and will always be Yuin Country. We are grateful for their thousands of years of careful and deliberate stewardship of Country and pay our respects to Yuin Elders past, present and emerging.

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