After
For PUNQ Exhibition at Townsville City Council Forecourt 2021
Laser cut reclaimed wooden parquetry flooring from 2019 Townsville floods. 1500cm x 36cm. Photo by Aaron Ashley

‘After’ is created from once highly valued wooden parquetry flooring, then degraded by flood, ripped up and destined for the rubbish. Each wooden finger has been scraped of glue, sanded, and cleaned, but will still bear witness to the traffic marks from their many years with a Townsville family home.

The floods devastated so many family homes, rendered people homeless and created a rental shortage plus an insurance hike; all which continue today in Townsville.

Our rivers are the life of a community as we cannot live without the fresh water they deliver. Each year when the torrential rain starts, flood victims are traumatised by their entrenched memories; we hope for enough rain for the land, but not inundation yet again.

My hope is that viewers will identify with this artwork and hopefully find comfort in seeing how many others were also affected by the floods and as future disasters roll on, theirs is not forgotten.

Is this river warning us about the reality of future impacts of climate change for our homes?