FIONA RAFFERTY

My art practice is inspired by a lifelong interest in the natural world, and observations of the impact of human intervention on the environment. Through residencies and field work I begin with a particular region, which is site-specific, and my research is informed by anthropological, ecological, and political issues. Place-identity, biophilia, and mining are key components, and my multi-disciplinary practice includes drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and artist books. I draw with pen and ink on paper, and sometimes include hand-stitching. For the past four years I lived adjacent to the Ramsar listed Creery Wetlands in Mandurah, and my current work focuses on the impact of human intervention on native and migratory birds, through land-clearing, development, and climate change. Previous work was inspired by residencies in the wheatbelt town of Mukinbudin WA, ‘Ethel Creek Station’, a working cattle station in the Pilbara WA, the Margaret Olley Centre and Tweed River Art Gallery NSW, ‘Calanthe’, the former home of Judith Wright on Tamborine Mountain QLD, Snowdonia National Park Wales, and the London Underground, UK.

I am now based in the Swan Valley region of WA, surrounded by native bushland, abundant birdlife, kangaroo families, and my dog, Zorro.

Fiona Rafferty Flight Plan (detail) 2023

Pen, ink, watercolour and printing on paper

Fiona Rafferty (born Geelong, Victoria) has lived in the UK, Northern Rivers NSW, and currently lives in WA. She has a BA (Art) and MPhil (Media, Culture and Creative Arts) from Curtin University, and received a scholarship to study for a year at Middlesex University, London. In 2023 she was selected for the Bunbury Biennale, WA, and was a finalist in the John Villiers Outback Art Prize, Qld. She won the Emerging Artist Award in the SWAN Awards, WA (2022), and was a finalist in the National Libris Awards, Qld (2020), the Waterhouse Natural Science Prize, SA (2016), and the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, NSW (2016). She has exhibited Nationally, and in the UK, and her work is represented in public and private collections in Australia, the UK and USA.