Lorena Blacklock

I have an affinity with mountain landscapes and living on the urban edge of Canberra for 20 years has deepened my appreciation for the changes that occur in the seasons and the land use. The proposed development of the large Wallaroo solar farm in my neighbourhood, brought to the fore, the "wicked problem" of the land use change and facilitating renewable electricity generation in response to climate change.

This work is my response to how drawing and print media can explore the process of land management and change, beauty and progress, and what is seen and unseen. I worked through my own personal conflict between valuing the beauty and experience of the rural landscape, with my desire to  contribute to solutions to mitigate climate change, through supporting power generation from renewable sources rather than coal.  This work was also about considering the costs of changing power generation options, where solar farms should be located and who and what are impacted.  My familarity with the landscape and my knowledge of town planning formed the basis of this work. I was keen to uncover what it takes to understand how a solar farm proposal will impact the landscape in Wallaroo and Dunlop.  Through this work I looked at how the concept and the plans can be understood, who and what are the winners and losers, and how far the impact reaches. The resulting work is a connection of many landscapes and the intricate unfolding web of resource and energy use that sheds more light on impacts of a solar farm.