Wetlands is the latest projection work by Emma Pattenden, presenting a site-responsive iteration of her ongoing Waterways project. Engaging the ecological histories of local wetland and water systems—both visible and obscured—it traces how they’ve shaped the urban landscape over time. Informed by historical and present site conditions, the work is created using moving water, ink, and watercolour. The resulting projection is ethereal and tranquil, inviting quiet reflection. By drawing attention to these layered ecologies, Wetlands encourages deeper connection with place and highlights water’s living presence in shaping our environments.
CELEBRATION EVENT
Please join us to celebrate this exhibition on Thursday 18 September from 6-8pm.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Emma Pattenden is a visual artist based in Kinglake on Taungurung and Wurundjeri Country. With a background in architecture, her practice spans drawing, watercolour, and projection, exploring the interplay between landscape, memory, and embodied experience. Grounded in phenomenology and field research, she works through observational drawing, intricate markmaking, and analogue processes to reflect the shifting textures, forms, and rhythms of natural environments. Her work often responds to specific sites and ecologies. Emma has exhibited across Melbourne, Sydney, and regional Australia, with recent presentations at Federation Square, Collingwood Yards (Melbourne Fringe), and M16 Artspace in Canberra.
Image credit: Emma Pattenden Waterways 2024, still from video work.