Unleashed

Photographic exhibition by Andrea Bryant

14 November – 12 December

Water emerges as a pivotal motif in this exhibition, serving as both a life-giving force and an untameable energy. Captured at Canberra’s Scrivener Dam during two major downpours in 2022, the Unleashed series documents the fragile equilibrium between plenty and shortage. Through these images, the artist delves into water’s innate magnificence and its far-reaching influence on our daily lives.

Historically, the damming of the Molonglo River was central to Walter Burley Griffin’s vision of a curated, urban environment centred around Lake Burley Griffin. Scrivener Dam was engineered specifically to tame the river and manifest this ideal. However, Unleashed reveals what happens when nature refuses to be confined by human architecture. As torrential forces spill and explode outwards over concrete boundaries, the photographs capture the raw, untamed power of water breaking free from engineered restraints.

This ongoing project forms a poetic dialogue on the element’s dual nature. While highlighting water’s essential role in moulding our physical landscape, the series simultaneously reflects its vulnerable, invaluable status. Amidst the gathering threats of environmental degradation and shifting global climate conditions, Unleashed serves as a poignant visual reminder that despite our grandest efforts to control it, nature’s true essence can never be fully contained.

Artist biography
Andrea Bryant is a photo-media artist whose practice fuses the physical with the conceptual. Through abstraction, the artist uncovers the hidden depth of everyday moments and objects, illuminating the quiet beauty of daily life.

Open Program