Arena

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This work was commissioned by the Newcastle Region Art Gallery for the Newcastle Chest 2010. This contemporary Wunderkammer was constructed in response to the famous Macquarie Chest of 1818 built in Newcastle, Australia to contain the collection of Governor Lachlan Macquarie. In this new installation Weaver featured representations a native budgerigar, a zebra finch and a rainbow lorikeet. A wreath of wattle, made from crocheted hand blown glass orbs and wooden beads, encircles the birds and provides partial camouflage for the specimens. Weaver's birds are taxidermed from the outside, mummified in brightly coloured crochet with their beaks and feet gilded. By perverting the outward appearance of nature, Weaver's creations call into question humans manipulation and the environment.
Weaver's installation is also reminiscent of the eye foolery found in abundance in Renaissance collections, where nature is manipulated to become culture. In a role that converges artist and collector, Weaver also explores the eroticism of concealment, her avian wonders are fetishised within ornamental cladding within a drawer that is further obscured within the chest. This bird infused drawer is in response to the same draw containing Governor Macquarie's bird specimens in the 1818 chest. The exhibition uses the dimensions and design of the original Macquarie Chest in celebration of the bicentenary of Macquarie's governorship. Contemporary artists whose practices have a synergy with the materials in the original chest were commissioned to respond and create works that reference political, social and environmental issues of today. The exhibition also features 3 other sculptures by Weaver alongside works by colonial artists such as Augustus Earle, Richard Browne, John Lewin and Walter Preston and historical artefacts, some seen publically for the first time. Other featured contemporary artists included Brook Andrew, Lionel Bawden, Maria Fernanda Cardoso and Narelle Jubelin.