19- 25 May 2025
crossing oceans from continent to continent, every year. TheLaw of the Sea is a dark, upright bird, charred body casting an implacable shadow, balanced with a delicate white headdress made from coral and pearls. It speaks to the UN Convention on The Law of the Sea, which mandates environmental protections and cooperative management of a globally shared resource, a concept evoked in the dignity of the figure, drawing together a protective mantle with bird-like vulnerabilities. SandpiperChick,Kangaroo Island houses a tiny bird within a nest made from sea sponge, seaweed and coral. The intricate patterns and organic shapes within these beach materials are elevated in this sculpture, which opens to the vulnerabilities of the young. Birds are accorded scant agency within human societies, and this fragile chick invites broader conversations about sensitive waterfront land and urban developments which place migratory birds in jeopardy.
WarriorIII–Oystercatcheris invested with long-term observation of the high-stepping red-legged oyster catcher, and refers also to Murray’s experience as a yoga practitioner and teacher, with the bird effortlessly adopting the warrior posture. Oystercatcher Magistery imbues the bird with attitudinal authority, Murray’s wry humour invoking the age-old legal traditions within which she has worked.
The shadow-boxes extend these marine themes using more found objects gifted by the sea. These are tenderly assembled, with Drift giving wings of black coral to a barnacle-encased branch, ensconced with feathers and pearls to denote its preciousness. Mermaid’spursewithpearlsuses a pre-used egg capsule from a shark (known as a mermaid’s purse) discovered amongst seaweed on the beach.
The pearls symbolise the environmental importance of the shark that began within this object. A profusion of black coral grows upward from the mermaid’s purse, with a fanning of feathers behind. LettheSeaHealTheeis an arrangement centred on a teaspoon, positioned horizontally like a set of scales. Coral is held in the belly of the spoon on one side while a feather hovers at the other end. In the middle a tree of coral holds pearls within its branches as though charged with maintaining a fine balance. In each of these works, the shadows cast by their unfamiliar materials with their intriguing patterns extend a seductive aesthetic.
‘Altitude’ casts an aesthetic net into the environment of the sea, beach and forests, profiling places that Murray spends time, drawing on her desire to elevate, nurture, share and protect the places and creatures that are integral to her own and the human psyche.
25 April 2025
Louise Martin-Chew
I belong to you, and you belong to the sea Oil and cold wax on board, oak frame
61 x 46 cm
$2,200
Oil and
High Altitude Drift
60 X 60 cm
$2,500
Travelling through ancient Tasmanian trees
Oil and cold wax on canvas framed in white timber
64 x 54 cm
$2,700
64
$2,700
Hinoki Cypress Devotion
Oil and cold wax on linen white timber frame
80 x 60 cm
$2700
Celestial Cue, Ancient Flyways
Oil and cold wax and board, oak frame
25 x 36 cm
$1,800
Mermaid’s purse with pearls Black coral, Mermaid’s Purse, pearls and feather sculpture in a timber shadow box 31x 26cm $900.
The Law of the Sea
Charred timber, coral, pearls, sea glass, shells, and rock
41 x 12 x 14 cm.
$1800
Warrior III – Oystercatcher
Charred timber, black coral, net, rocks, wire
25 x 28 x 15 cm $1800.
Storm Prince
Charred timber, black coral, paper, silver, sea glass
27x19x38 cm
$1100
Calling the sun
Driftwood, pipi shells, sea
glass, sea flowers, seaweed, rocks
$1800
Goddess of the Moon
Driftwood, black coral, sea botanicals, pearls, coral and rock $1800.