Tree of Life or Ghost Gum? Australia and its Territories Threatened Fauna

History

Twins Lana Lefroy and Jan Fisher made this quilt over the course of a year, as an artistic expression to promote understanding, encourage interest and inspire thoughtful actions for the future. It features Australia and its Territories 451 threatened and extinct fauna taken from the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Environment Protection and Conservation Act 1999, with listings from 1788 to 2014.

Lana and Jan overcame the considerable challenges of isolation to achieve this as Lana currently lives on a 125 000 ha cattle station in outback WA and had no internet access at the time. Jan was living on Christmas Island, a tiny Australian Territory way out in the Indian Ocean, where she had been for 9 years with her family. Access to anything there is limited! The quilt is an original creation which was mainly designed over the phone together with weekly e-mails of plans and stitching progress when Lana drove the 76km unsealed road into Sandstone.

The iconic Australian Ghost Gum trunk is made from the 54 critically endangered animals with 142 three dimensional endangered leaves. The roots delve into the underground where the 56 extinct species lay buried. 193 vulnerable animals and 6 conservation dependent fauna fill the border. The background panels feature three samples of Australian environments along with many small habitats where these animals can be found. It also includes some of the causes for their demise along with measures in place to help secure their futures. The back of the quilt lists all the scientific names of the fauna, along with at least one common name, under each category.

Jan did much of the research, drawing of the fauna, and preparation of fabric and constructed the left and centre panels and the small habitats. Lana made the right, underground and border sections and quilted it, as Jan’s supplies were by then on a ship to Australia in preparation for their move back to the mainland.

The quilt won First Place at QuiltWest in the Two Person Category in 2015. It was selected as one of the six best quilts along with Best of Show from 2015, to represent Western Australia at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne in 2016. The quilt was valued by the Western Australian Quilters' Association (Inc) on 9 May 2015 at $18,000. It was sold to a private buyer Donna Bennett at the Sandstone Art Exhibition in August 2017.

Description

A white Ghost Gum is set against a blazing sky. The background is divided into three panels with the left being cliffs and water, the centre hills and swamps and the right panel is a desert. The foreground includes rocks and a stream and small habitats. The major features of the quilt are made from the 451 threatened and extinct fauna of Australia and its Territories. The quilting includes messages and information.

The back of the quilt lists all the scientific names and a common name of all the animals under the five categories of Extinct, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation Dependent.

2120 x 1660 mm

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Australian Government Department of the Environment for the information provided on their website.
Species reference: http://www.environment.gov.au/
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgibin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna