Telegraph Rose

Many installations are an eclectic mix of facts, feelings and ideas that I collect magpie-fashion from my travels. The concept of an artwork often evolves from these fleeting visits. Telegraph Rose is an example of this process.

Whilst in Darwin I gleaned from a local historian that the first international Morse code message was sent by telegraph, just below the lawns of the Parliament building in downtown Darwin. And, during a helicopter flight I learnt that the good folk from the Northern Territories are enthusiastic about fishing.  

Telegraph Rose is an installation of 700 multi-coloured vertically orientated fishing rods laid out in the form of the Sturt’s Desert Rose, the territory’s Floral Emblem.