Satellite of Love is an exhibition created in response to the Paradoxa and Friends: Walking, Talking, Listening, Learning site specific events held in the Panton Hill Bushland Reserves during 2019 and 2020. The events were a community cultural development project that combined environmental, historical and cultural fieldwork. The artists respond to these walking talks, given by speakers including Wurundjeri Elders, botanists, equine therapists, meditation teachers and Panton Hill locals in artworks that ponder multiple perspectives on nature and culture.

Addressing the character of the Eltham Library Community Gallery space, the exhibition begins at the centre with a seating circle. Reminiscent of three seating circles in Bunjil Reserve, the soft cushions have been made with the same dimensions and configuration as the wooden seats which were part of the events. The cushions have been made by the Collective sharing materials, ideas and, in the spirit of the ‘and friends’ sentiment of the series of the six walking talks, Paradoxa invited two attending artists, Nusra Qureshi and Hannah Gartside to contribute to this work.

Siri Hayes’ Type C photograph, Seating Circle, depicts one of the Bunjil Reserve circles on the morning before the first talk by Judy Nicholson, Wurundjeri Elder and artist. In the photograph the seating circle sits in anticipation of the particular event but also symbolises an active vessel or receptacle-like monument to all past and possible future conversational exchanges in the internal space created by the circle. Adjacent to the photograph sit two bottles found on site, containing moss and everlasting daisies like those found at Bunjil.

Anna Farago’s large, Sharing Contemplation, a patchwork made of botanically dyed fabric and worn shirts, hovers over the exhibition space. It acts as a soft marker in honour of community, recognising the ongoing need for discussion and contemplation. These themes are extended within the related video work Quiet Observer, co-directed and produced with Tapestry Media. The video narrates via images, nature sounds and few words, one of the walks as well as the patchwork hanging in the trees. Another work by Farago, Mapping Meditation I, is a performative photograph that captures the artist and Eltham Yoga teacher Kuo Yong Kooi seated on another of Farago’s large textiles. Facing each other they are framed within an octagon giving thanks to the power of the natural environment.

Spiraling out from the centre circle, Penelope Aitken’s six Prayer mats for nature worship are loosely dedicated to each of the six walks. Inspired by new information, stories, emotions and materials found on site, the prayer mats are both paintings of the Bunjil Reserve experiences as well as (im)practical ground sheets for continued communing.