This gallery is basically a selection of 26 pieces from my "Microcosm" project; a project where I spent two years of full-time work on doing artwork based on one Moreton Bay fig tree.

A more complete presentation of my Microcosm project can be accessed on a new screen (or new tab) here (but note that this more complete presentation uses html frames, so it should only be viewed on a computer or tablet screen).

Following a brief introduction to the project are small images taken from the 26 pieces shown in this “gallery”.

Click on an image, or the artwork’s title, to go to a page with proper reproductions and more details about that artwork.

Once you are looking at artworks in more detail, you can use the ‘prev’ and ‘next’ links (at the top and bottom of each details page) to go to the previous or next artworks in this gallery.

There are links near the top and bottom of each details page to return to this gallery page.

Introduction

“Microcosm” is the title of the art project I undertook which was based on concentrating about two years of full time work as an artist (during 2005 and 2006) on one Moreton Bay Fig tree growing in the Adelaide Parklands.

Following is a map that shows the location of the Moreton Bay Fig Tree that was the subject of this project. It is located in the maintained Parklands that surround the city of Adelaide. This tree is in the Parklands directly between the city of Adelaide and North Adelaide.

About this particular Moreton Bay Fig tree (Ficus Macrophylla):

This tree is a natural magnet for most people who walk past it. I have met many people there who feel that it's 'the best tree in Adelaide'. It is certainly a mighty organism, looking very healthy and strong.

While working at the tree, I have often been asked by other people walking past if I knew how old the tree is? Their feeling was that it looks about 400-500 years old. The problem with that is that Moreton Bay Fig trees are native to southeast Queensland and hadn't naturally spread to growing in the area around Adelaide. Therefore, the tree had to be planted deliberately, by people with the technical know-how and ability to transplant and transport a seedling reasonably quickly from an area a long way away. The likelihood was that the tree was planted after 1835 - the approximate starting date of the invading English colony to South Australia. A horticultural technical officer at the Adelaide City Council said that to her best research the tree was planted in 1875-1880, which puts the tree at an age of about 145 - 150 years old.

The tree's exposed buttress root systems cover an approximate elliptical shape of about 25 metres by 23 metres.

Shown in this gallery are the following small number of selected pieces from the project: