Sugar Glider Marks

Sugar Glider Marks are artworks about the abstract and overlooked markings made by Sugar Gliders on gum trees caused by their routine sap drinking. In 2017, I accompanied an ecologist on a regular site visit to determine the ecological state of a potential land development site. The ecologist offered so much information about native flora and fauna and how to identify which animals are living on the land by looking for scats, tracks and tree markings. One of the many markings that stayed in my mind following that site visit was the sugar glider marks. The sugar gliders make them on juvenile trees and the trees then keep the scar from the sap collection as they grow larger. As a part of my art practice is to reveal to audiences sublime but under valued elements of nature, I have depicted a variety of sugar glider marks that I photographed on bush walks in the Blue Mountains. I explored the abstract qualities of the tree bark along with the bold glider mark to create an expressive drawing.