Crossing Nursery Swamp by Fenja T. Ringl

Size (cm): 70 x 50
Etching and aquatint on paper (framed size)

Crossing Nursery Swamp draws on memories of archaeological fieldwork in the Namadgi Ranges. The print captures the Nursery valley from its southern end—an open sweep of pale trunked eucalypt woodland and high country wetlands. One dawn, a white and tan dingo family called across the swamp, a fleeting encounter that shaped my sense of the valley’s living presence. Nursery Valley, periodically scorched by intense bush fires, stands as a testament to ecological resilience. Its story is entwined with thousands of years of Aboriginal history, evident in rock art, quarries, and scattered artefacts. The work reflects these layered ecological, cultural, and personal rhythms.