Artemis Anthropocene by J A Cornish, Winter 2024
Plastic Mannequin, Papier Mache – telephone books, newspaper, PVA Glue; Eucalyptus Scoparia Branches, Eucalypt Angophora Costata Bark; Woodchips from Pine and Cypress; Charcoal; Magpie Nest – natural materials & plastic waste; Fairy Wren’s Nest – natural materials; Paper Wasp Nest – natural materials.

‘Artemis …’ is an obvious comment on waste and the overuse and destruction of natural resources, also the proliferation of plastic waste in our environment and the affect it has on our health and the health of the natural world. She’s made from a plastic mannequin covered in papier-mâché from telephone books and newspaper, specifically, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend and News Review, the sections I read. I’ve got a love-hate relationship with paper, especially newspaper and magazines; I love to read, I hate that often what I’m reading was once a tree. The newspaper is mostly cut into leaves, and layered on the mannequin like they were drawn to her, almost in an effort to remake themselves as trees again.
There are also butterflies, a bee (made from multiple cut out bees), a dragonfly, and two crescent Moons cut from the newspaper – I actually wanted to do more and create a fresco across her upper chest, but cutting tiny exact insects ran into time I didn’t have (for now). Bees were chosen because they were sacred to Artemis and have been identified as the single most important species on earth. The butterflies and dragonfly are a nod to my Welsh ancestors and sister (who loves dragonflies), and Artemis wore a crescent moon as a crown. The leaves are also like shoals of fish, and I like this Homeric Hymn to Artemis traveling across the land: “The tops of the high mountains tremble and the tangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earth quakes and the sea also where fishes shoal.” One of the 12 Olympian Gods, Artemis is Goddess of waters and rivers, her twin is the sun God Apollo, and Poseidon God of the ocean was her uncle.
As a nerdy child reading Greek Myths and Legends, Artemis was a favourite “…the first nymph, a goddess of free nature. She is an independent free woman, and she doesn’t need any partner…” Amongst other things, she’s the Goddess of the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation: “…In bucolic (pastoral) songs the image of [Artemis] was discovered in bundles of leaves or dry sticks” – hence my sticks and branches.
The single most important piece in the sculpture is the magpies’ nest. Finding it and seeing that it was created by these brilliant birds from so much plastic waste broke my heart. I found the nest, which had blown down from a huge eucalypt in a storm, in 2018. Eight or so years of drought had denuded the local gardens and wild grasses and I suspect the Magpies had to scavenge far and wide to find any nesting materials, including the plastic packing tape, the spines of a plastic fence, the plastic netting and even the very large wood and wire mobile I’d created which they stole from my garden, a block from where I’d found the nest. The wire was unwound from some of the props in the mobile and wound thorough the nest. The thin fencing wire remains in the nest, but I had to remove the rest of the mobile as it was too heavy for my Artemis’ branches – quite the circle of creation.
And as for plastic and how it relates to Artemis, Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, reproduction, and women’s health? “Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are emergent pollutants, which have sparked widespread concern. They can infiltrate the body via ingestion, inhalation, and cutaneous contact (they can rub off by touch). As such, there is a general worry that MPs/NPs may have an impact on human health in addition to the environmental issues they engender… With the detection of MPs/NPs in fetal [sic.] compartment and the prevalence of infertility, an increasing number of studies have put an emphasis on their reproductive toxicity in female[s]. Moreover, MPs/NPs have the potential to interact with other contaminants, thus enhancing or diminishing the combined toxicity.” ** Plastic weakens Magpie nests too.
In some First Nations Lore, the Magpie is a messenger and guide.

*All quotes from Wikipedia, except: **Toxicity of microplastics and nanoplastics: invisible killers of female fertility and offspring health – National Library of Medicine. America. Published 2023 Aug 28. Yuli Geng, 1 Zhuo Liu, et al.