After The Fire

Marni Stuart

‘After the Fire’ shares the story of life after fire in the Australian bush. The mixed media artwork and surface pattern design depicts the moment that the new plant growth overpowers the blackened remains of the Currimundi Lake (Kathleen McArthur) Conservation Park. The work was formed in the ‘Year in Bloom’ project that involved iterative visits to a single site over a year, to observe the ephemerality of place. The project was informed by Kathleen McArthur’s publication ‘A Bush in Bloom’, 1982 that chronicled a year of walking, learning, and depicting place, and ‘Symphony of Light’ by Itchiku Kubota that observed the changing light of place over time through Kimono art. The work was exhibited length of printed fabric and framed mixed media work on board at the Wildflowering by Design Touring Exhibition, where it was chosen as the hero image for signage and marketing. The tour receiving over 20,000 visitors across seven regional Queensland galleries from 2023-2025. Research Background After the Fire sits within contemporary material-led design practices that examine how environmental events shape aesthetic and conceptual outcomes. Drawing on material literacy and workmanship (Grigg, 2018; Pye, 1964) and attentiveness to situated material relations (Tweeddale, 2020), the work responds to post-bushfire landscapes and regeneration cycles. Artistic precedents such as Symphony of Light show how natural phenomena can be translated into layered visual compositions, while observational accounts of Australian flora (McArthur, 1982) emphasise attention to seasonal change and form. The project asks: how can material exploration and surface pattern design translate post-fire regeneration into visual form while retaining site-responsive narrative? Research Contribution The work adopts a practice-led methodology combining field observation, drawing, and digital repeat pattern design. Source material was developed through engagement with fire-affected environments and botanical regeneration (cf. McArthur, 1982), then translated into layered visual studies and a resolved artwork and pattern. Iterative processes of abstraction, colour testing, and compositional refinement were used to balance representation and design application. The outcome operates across both fine art and applied contexts, demonstrating how material-led inquiry can inform surface design systems. Research Significance After the Fire was selected for the Wildflowering by Design touring exhibition, curated by Dr Sue Davis and Dr Lisa Chandler, and used as the exhibition’s hero image. The tour (2023–2025) spanned seven regional galleries across Southeast Queensland and attracted 20,005 in-person visitors, alongside 400,000–700,000 digital impressions and multiple media features. Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, this uptake indicates both curatorial recognition and public reach, demonstrating the work’s relevance within contemporary design and regional cultural discourse.

After The Fire

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