Empty Handed

Jemima Poole, Hobart City High School

In collaboration with Francisco Albergoli
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, UTAS

Artist’s Statement

This is the same text as the handfish one from earlier, so here it is formatted the same way:

I collaborated with Fran, who studies the Red Handfish and aims to help us understand more about them. When we visited the aquaculture facility, Fran told us about the artificial reef used to restore their habitat in the wild which I was particularly interested in. Small reefs are built onto objects such as bricks and boulders to mimic the handfish’s habitat, and ceramic discs are used to encourage algae growth and attract prey in areas where there is no suitable habitat for the Red Handfish.

I needle felted a handfish and made her a plate and a drink for her dinner. I wanted to show some of the conservation tactics that we learnt about, whilst also exploring the sadness of the handfish’s dying status.

The plate, which should be covered in algae and seagrass for the handfish to explore is empty, with only paintings of what the handfish once lived in. The light traps that Fran showed us inspired me to create a drink for my fish that mimics the lights that are used to attract tiny invertebrates that the handfish eat in captivity.

I used Needle felting to create my handfish with wool roving to build shapes by repeatedly stabbing it with a needle to tangle fibres and form pieces. I chose to needle felt the fish to create a loveable creature that people can get attached to because we are more likely to want to protect things that we love.

I created the liquid effect by pouring resin into a plastic drink bottle in layers and sprinkling with beads to resemble tiny invertebrates.

I want the cuteness of the fish to be immediate, but once you look deeper and learn more, the gloominess and morbidity are shown by the empty plate.