Precipice is a collaborative multi-arts project founded by Artist Lucille Martin & Curator/Artist Maya Martin-Westheimer, exploring the inter-relationship and deep ecology of salt marshes and wetlands transiting shared international ecological sites between West Australia to Tasmania, Venice, Italy and The Hague, Netherlands
The project focuses on the importance of preserving ecosystems such as intertidal zones linking river to sea to amplify the importance and intricate complex relationships which are intrinsically linked to environmental health. Lucille Martin's multi-disciplinary art making background, is rooted in her connexion to the Australian landscape, allowing her to convey creative storytelling through various mediums, including walking, documentary iPhoneography, photography, drawing, lithographic transfer, clay and earth rubbings. Her artwork touches on the impact of human activity on the planet’s climate and ecosystems, transgressing land and planetary boundaries. Martin invites audiences to consider beauty and deep adaption of ecosystems and seek new pathways towards a more regenerative future.
Martin-Westheimer is an independent curator who has established a creative publishing platform, Floorplan Studio, and is committed to using art and culture to address contemporary issues and foster community empowerment and awareness.
Martin and Martin-Westheimer bring their curiosity, passion, and a love of experimentation within their materials and curatorial direction and engagement.
The project was originally researched in, Oct 2022, during the duo’s first collaborative self-funded ATWA-'All that we are' residency in regional Tasmania at a Salt Marsh location called Pipe Clay Lagoon, led by residency Director Dr. Simon Spain & Geographer, Dr Vishnu Prahalad from The University of Tasmania.
Ongoing research since, has highlighted the important role in landscape function, including cycling of carbon, water, nutrients, food, water purification, tidal regulation of flows, and provision of habitats. The role of wetlands in carbon sequestration and storage has generally been under-estimated. Wetlands cover approximately six to nine per cent of the Earth’s surface and contain about 35 per cent of global terrestrial carbon. These Blue Carbon ecosystems have already suffered a 50% loss, making preserving and understanding these complex ecosystems vital.
