Awful Beauty

Awful Beauty: Mapping Toxic Locations In The Age Of The Anthropocene: A visual response to environmentally impacted geographical locations exhibition is the result of artist Loi Magill’s Doctor of Creative Arts project. This series aims to create abstract geographical maps as works of art that demonstrate how selected environments within Australia have been impacted by the effects of the Anthropocene – a term used to describe the time during which humans have had a substantial impact on our planet. By raising awareness of how mining, agriculture, deforestation, loss of land by damming, roads, nuclear testing, and land reclamation can impact the environment, and simultaneously promoting renewable resources, Magill hopes to help create a more sustainable world. 

Magill has had a lifelong interest in maps, not only because of their beauty and the curiosity they engender, capturing her sense of adventure and travel, but also because of their artistry and accuracy in documenting ancient landscapes. Maps can show you how to get to a place, but they cannot show you how beautiful that place can be. Magill explains that, 

“It’s not just the beauty of the map, or the beauty of the place when you get there, it’s the sense of wonder and feeling of being somewhere, perhaps spiritual – the outback does that for me. 

“I like my maps, I have been there in my mind… I could sit and stare at maps for ages.” 

Loi Magill, left: Tailing Ponds 2021 (work on glass, photographic print). Right two: Awful Beauty 2022 (acrylic on watercolour paper)

The signs and symbols of maps, the topographical contour lines and the bathymetrical lines of the seas, pushed her to find out more about where she is in the world. Even though her abstract maps in some cases are believable representations of place, they cannot and do not, pretend to tell the whole story. Some mapping principles are adhered to, but in most cases, some artistic licence has been taken in the production of the artworks. As abstract representations of place, mapping can be considered inaccurate since the Earth is constantly moving and changing. These maps become aesthetic propositions to guide viewers on a journey of thought from what our land, in particular, Australia, once was to its current state.

Magill’s abstract geographical maps concentrate on changes to the land since the inception of the Anthropocene period, in particular the effects of mining tailing ponds and the subsequent damage to the environment. They contain toxic, hazardous and sometimes radioactive liquids which can damage humans, the environment, and ecosystems. These tailing dams or ponds are said to last in the vicinity of 10,000 years.

Magill’s abstract maps share information conceptually, using abstract ideas, metaphors, and materials to engage a contemporary research audience.