From her first views of Canberra's treetops as she flew into the city a month ago, Jyll Bradley has been hooked on the capital.
The London-based artist has been commissioned to create a series of works on Canberra for the 2013 centenary, the only international artist to have been approached so far.
The partnership came about after Bradley was asked to be artist-in-residence several years ago for the Liverpool, Capital of Culture Festival, directed by Robyn Archer. Archer is now creative director of the Canberra centenary, and invited Bradley to visit the ACT this year and respond to what she saw.
"I had no preconceptions about the city, but within about a day of arriving, or less than a day, actually, the first thing I noticed was the trees," she said yesterday.
"I thought it was absolutely extraordinary, that this whole city had been appearing, emerging through trees."
She was speaking to The Canberra Times just days before heading back to England, having stayed here for the past month in a Turner apartment with a view over the Brindabellas.
Archer said Bradley's work was exactly the type of commission she and her team were pursuing for the forthcoming centenary celebrations.
"It's ... really representative of the kind of commissions we're pursuing for the Centenary of Canberra in that it is beautiful and inspiring,'' she said.
''[It will] be executed with great skill, but is also intimately connected with Canberra's past, present and future, and adaptable as highly creative 'documentary' art across a wide range of media.'' Bradley is an established artist in Europe, but this has been her first visit to Australia, and she has yet to visit any other cities or towns.
"I don't want to go anywhere else. I mean, I will do, presumably when I've finished this off, I'll maybe go on a holiday, but I feel so obsessed now with Canberra," she said.
While the content she'll be producing is, as with the rest of the centenary's programming, still under wraps, she said the work would use mixed mediums, including text, photography and drawing.
"My project will be focusing on the different tree communities in Canberra and looking at how their stories have sort of informed the story of Canberra,'' she said.
''For me the trees are interesting, but what's more interesting is the people that planted them, why they planted them, what it says about identity of people, the city, the nation, all of which seems to be concentrated in Canberra ...
"My dad trained as a forester, so I can't help but be touched when I meet all these old foresters, and I just sort of think of my father."
She said much of her time here has been spent listening to people and doing research into Canberra's history.
"For me, it's about listening ... I just want to hear and learn and absorb ...'' she said. Bradley will return to Canberra in a year's time to put together the main body of her project.
She wants Canberrans to send her stories or poems about trees, as part of the development of her project.
Submissions can be sent to the Centenary of Canberra City of Trees project at the Chief Minister and Cabinet Directorate, GPO Box 158, Canberra ACT 2601.
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