caroline baum
About the Artist
ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
Since moving to the Illawarra coast in 2003 I've become a beachcomber, exploring the eroded platforms rich in minerals and marine life. At low tide, I've found a modest colony of unassuming creatures who move incredibly slowly, creating intricate patterns in the sand as they go about their daily business of looking for food. Some of these tracks remind me of Aboriginal art, particularly the stunning batiks created by the women at Utopia; others, of those sensational photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand of the earth from the air, highlighting the abstract beauty of rivers, mountain ranges and other topographical details.
Each day the patterns are different and every day they are washed away at high tide, a reminder of natural renewal and repetition. Each day, the lacework made by these creatures changes; sometimes it is loose, like an erratically woven fabric of irregular Celtic knots, at other times, it is more tightly knit, a denser filigree mesh of pathways I call Snail Songlines.
When the tracings disappear into the sand I feel I am looking at the mysterious scribblings of a disappeared civilization waiting to be decoded. These maps of daily routines, enacted at a slow, determined pace make me wish that our own commuting could be as beautiful.
From the moment I started taking these photographs, my objective was always to create fabric from them. I have collected patterned material all my life and am fascinated by the organic shapes and bright colours seen in paisley prints etc.
After months of searching for the kind of patient collaborators who could teach me the basics of creating designs, I found the perfect partners at Longina Phillips Designs in Sydney. Working in close collaboration with Sylvia Balog, and encouraged by designers I admire including Easton Pearson, Traudl Troska and Akira Isogawa, I have created a range of fabrics called Mollusc. The first collection is a range of limited edition silk chiffon scarves for summer (see Scarves page for pictures and more details).
BIOGRAPHY
When not at the beach photographing molluscs, Caroline Baum is a well known journalist and broadcaster. She has worked for Vogue as Features Editor, as founding editor of Good Reading magazine, as presenter of ABC TV’s popular bookshow, Between the Lines and Foxtel’s Talking Books and as an executive producer with ABC Radio National. She is a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines and appears at writers festivals around the country.
In 2006 Caroline produced and co-wrote her first TV documentary In Search of Bony, about Australian crime writer Arthur Upfield, shown on SBS TV. She is currently producing a second documentary for SBS and has several other TV projects in development.
Caroline has had two exhibitions of her photographs: at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery in 2004 and at the Clifton School of Art in 2006. Her work is in private collections around the world and has been purchased by Wollongong City Gallery.
Private commissions have included several large works printed on canvas for private homes and for a wildlife observation centre in NSW.
Caroline uses a Canon Eos 400 D for her photographic work.
Her limited edition silk scarves under the Mollusc label are printed by Longina Phillips Designs, Sydney.