ARTIST BRINGS LEGENDS TO LIFE FOR GEELONG AFTER DARK
For this year’s Geelong After Dark (GAD) renowned local artist Liz McGrath tapped into the Bellarine’s rich history uncovering two amazing muses in the process.
As the city streets transform into works of art on May 4 by local, national and internationally renowned artists, this year’s theme Earth will be evident in Ms McGrath’s works.
Ms McGrath said she has constructed two large scale colonial dresses representative of Anne Drysdale (1792-1853) and Caroline Newcombe (1812-1892); two lady squatters that arrived in Australia separately and after a chance meeting in Geelong, went on to run successful farms together.
“I was keen to do something about local women and Geelong history, when I tried to find an individual I found this amazing pair who ended up having suburbs named after them,” Ms McGrath said.
“They were very unusual early settlers and successful farmers, they were quite social on the Bellarine and highly respected. They built Coriyule, a grand house in Drysdale at their final farm and were devoted to each other.”
Ms McGrath said the concept came to her straight away and the dresses took about a month to complete.
“They’re very exaggerated proportions, my vision was two ladies coming back from 150 years ago, wafting through the crowd and having a stroll through modern Geelong,” she said.
“They haven’t got faces or hands because I found the frocks were enough to represent them, these women were so prominent and well respected it makes them astounding women of their time.”
Drysdale Steam Engine
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