Fran Callen
Drawing Ground Water
August 1 - September 28, 2025
Artist Talk: Sunday August 24th at 5pm
Exhibition Launch: Sunday August 24th at 6pm
FRAN CALLEN - DRAWING GROUNDWATER
My drawing based work explores connections between drawing, motherhood, and geological/hydrogeological processes. The record of Earth's history is preserved in its rocks, the narrative of mark making similarly preserved within drawing. Mothering provides an ambient background, my children’s input integral to my work. Often working collaboratively across our tabletop and domestic spaces, found pigments and recycled materials hold stories of our immediate surroundings as we consider our relationship with our environment and the responsibility to better care for it.
'Drawing Groundwater' specifically responds to current hydrogeological research by Dr Margaret Shanafeild as she works on an Australian Research Council funded project to generate new knowledge fundamental for water resource management. Margaret's research aims to improve understanding of groundwater recharge through a sensor network deployed in underground spaces located between the soil and the aquifer across the country. We can manage water resources better through understanding how our aquifers are replenished by rain events, and how this is affected by Climate Change.
Beginning as visual documentation of selected field trips with our families that included laying surfaces beneath sensors where drips fell beneath the ground, and in local creek beds for months at a time, work was then layered with evidence of an intergenerational sharing of knowledge considering our relationship with domestic water use and its impact on the natural world. A palimpsest of marks evolved including local materials and pigments, amongst discussions about groundwater across canvas laid tabletops in our homes, at workshops, on family travels and with students.
This collaborative process included generous input of knowledge and wisdom by Boandik Elder Auntie Michelle, and workshop participants, as part of our CountryArts SA Nature Studio in Naracoorte Caves National Park.
Layered in the work are explorations of the incidental mark making potential of rain, water movement in creeks, and household water such as sprinklers, sinks, downpipes and gutters, and local pigments. Relevant groundwater diagrammes and charts were considered in the format of the artwork.
In creating this work I concurrently explore the metaphoric and poetic potential of hyrdogeological terms and processes, bringing in colour and materials that hold personal relevance.
This project is ongoing, this iteration supported by CreateSA.
Fran Callen
To quantify rainfall recharge thresholds, the National Groundwater Recharge Observation Network (NGROS) has taken an innovative approach, directly measuring potential groundwater recharge using a network of hydrological loggers deployed in underground spaces such as tunnels, mines and caves, located between the soil and the water table. Currently there are 20 study sites across SE Australia. The first year of data shows that 10-20 mm of rainfall in 48 hours is typically needed for recharge to occur in fractured rock aquifers, regardless of differences in soil, vegetation, geology, and depth to observation sites. Groundwater recharge occurred in the wetter seasons, when less rainfall was needed to cause underground dropping. Differences caused by site‐specific factors such as soil conditions, unsaturated zone thickness and vegetation are the focus of ongoing work as we collect more data. Our findings demonstrate that there is high variability in groundwater recharge, driven by the timing and volume of rainfall, which is an important consideration for water management.
Dr Margaret Shanafeild
