In the Smile of a Tree

FLG is delighted to present Sydney artist Kendal Murray's first solo exhibition with the gallery. Her exhibition In the Smile of a Tree looks at the significant relationship between childhood play in nature, children's wellbeing, and the cultivation of their environmental identity. The mixed-media sculptures in the exhibition work as time capsules, offering glimpses into childhood adventures in the natural world as they discover places to hide, explore and imagine.

All image and video credits Ian Hobbs

Artist Statement - In the Smile of a Tree The exhibition In the Smile of a Tree looks at the significant relationship between childhood play in nature, children's wellbeing, and the cultivation of their environmental identity. 

A child's relationship with the environment begins with the experience of 'place'. Children make connections with the sensory-stimulating forms and structures of the natural world and respond to them physically and imaginatively through exploration and play, giving them personal meanings and interpretations. 

When positive environmental experiences are shared and valued with significant people in their lives, childhood memories of pleasurable and fascinating interactions with natural places builds a child's environmental identity and will impact how they experience and value the environment into adulthood.

Read:Art Guide's review of the exhibition

Catalogue essay by Joey Hespe, 2022 For most, the recollection of childhood memories evokes a sense of freedom. A freedom to run wild, to climb trees, ride bikes and create an imaginative world of our very own. Kendal Murray’s works conjures this sense of child’s play and of the infinite possibilities of exploration, creation and belonging in the natural environment. For an artist whose work evokes the otherworldly, Murray’s art is grounded in realism. Familiar scenes rise up between wildflowers and tall grasses; families gather and children play amongst the wilderness, waterways and lush green landscapes of the Australian bush. Her tiny worlds are captured mid-moment, as if peering into the emotional mirage of a memory. Dogs jump, children run, and tyres swing from trees; and for a moment we remember the sound of laughter, the feeling of freedom and the insignificance of time.  

Murray’s repurposing of children’s toys create the ideal platform on which to explore the theory that a child’s relationship with the environment begins with the experience of ‘place’. As populations grow and the urban sprawl expands to cover both pastoral lands and native bushland, it’s inevitable that, for a lot of children, exposure to the natural environment will become increasingly inaccessible over time. According to UNICEF, a walk in the park can significantly improve a child’s ability to concentrate. Green views out of school windows correlate with improved academic performance, and children who grow up in greener neighbourhoods are often less depressed, less stressed and generally healthier and happier.1 The importance of access to green spaces in cultivating a child’s identity, wellbeing and development correlates with Murray’s work. 

It’s hard not to recall the echoes of early memories when viewing Murray’s tiny worlds. As each miniature scene is explored, fleeting snippets of familiarity are triggered; of emotional and physical memories linked to our own experiences. In ‘Beachside, Open-Eyed, Identified’, a dog frolics in sun-drenched rolling waves watched on, by its family, lazing on the sand. It’s hard not to imagine the sound of seagulls, crashing waves and the smell of sunscreen and salt in the air. This iconic beach scene is part of the Australian vernacular and connects directly to a shared cultural memory. In ‘Summertime, Local Time’, a children’s tea set is transformed into a secret world nature play.  Sitting happily in the branches of a tree, one child watching on as the other wades into a stream, cooling off their feet in the summer heat. This world is their very own; a womb-like safe place where anything is possible.

Murray’s work serves to remind us that a sense of connection with the experience of childhood is foundational to our understanding of ourselves. Through an engagement with her work we are reminded that our connection to the Earth, to green spaces and the environment, is an integral part of who we are. Fostering a close relationship with the environment from a young age, provides us with a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves. If we nurture that relationship, it will in turn nurture us. 

 1.UNICEF, (Armenia, 2021)

ARTIST BIO: Kendal Murray has exhibited her artwork regularly in solo exhibitions since 1995, whilst participating in both international and national group exhibitions. Her work is represented in private Australian and international collections, and public collections including the Powerhouse Museum, Goulburn Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Grafton Regional Gallery, the University of New South Wales, and the Western Sydney University Collection. Murray has also been the recipient of several prizes, including The Deakin University Small Sculpture Award (2015), and the Beowulf Prize, as part of the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. She lives and works in Sydney, Australia.