Astro-Rocks Festival

Mali Moir Botanical Art & Community Workshop

Mali’s role during the artist residency that leads up to the Astro Rocks festival will be to work with local Aboriginal people and other community members to locate and illustrate unique endemic local flora and bush tucker on country. To record local knowledge of these plants then create artworks which will be both representative of the present and what would be fossils of the future through a natural dying technique. Mali’s experience in field work with scientists and projects with artists, along with a teaching career of 20 years, can include a botanical art workshop for any level of artistic experience from beginners to advanced which concentrates on drawing local endemic plant species. Selected drawings from the community, created through Mali’s workshop, will be added to the Genestreams sculpture. All of Mali’s work and research will be shared on the SciArt website for a global audience to access.

This will connect with the SciArt Genestreams Sculpture Project (Stage 1) in which multiple overlapping stories and Aboriginal perspectives will be created through art, including ecology, local plants and bush tucker in relation to the stars, the age of the rocks and the geological unfolding of Australia.

The project will not only enhance Astro Rocks Fest but also Mount Magnet’s engagement with the larger Murchison GeoRegion and Aspiring Geopark project. www.murchisongeoregion.com

Mali Moir – Artist Statement / Bio

Mali is a botanical, scientific and natural history artist and teacher of over 20 years’ experience, practicing artistic interpretations of natural history themes in the Accurate Realism style using traditional techniques whilst developing a fresh contemporary look. Artist for Flora of Victoria and other scientific publications. Expedition field artist for French Natural History Museum and Museum Vic. With a special interest in the areas of conservation and species documentation Mali combines her fascination for science and nature with an active desire to render works of art with beauty, character and scientific integrity.

Mali Moir began her career as botanical artist at the National Herbarium of Victoria. By working closely with botanists, she has gained an understanding of the importance of scientific accuracy, the fundamentals of precise measurement and thorough depiction of detail. Exhibiting for over 25 years in Australia and internationally Mali has produced many works for private, public and corporate collections.

Mali has a keen interest for artistic interpretation of natural history themes, she executes works on paper with the skill of a dedicated artist as she combines her fascination for science and nature with an active desire to render works of art with beauty, character and scientific integrity.


About Mali Moir & Ben Beeton’s Collaborations

Mali Moir and Ben Beeton have been collaborating for over 10 years on numerous scientific art projects. They are co-creators of the SciArt online course and have developed a collaborative drawing style. They have a vision for new exiting forms of art that celebrate the unique heritage of regional natural systems that extend from dynamic mural work to large public artworks which broaden the publics awareness of deep time.

We specialize in creating art based on studies of natural environments. We have a strong interest in artist residency projects where we explore natural systems, their conservation values and their deep time origins. Filming is a critical part of the artist residency project. The work created through the artist residency project and the associated films that tell the stories of the land will be displayed on the sciart website.https://sciart.com.au/projects/

The artwork created through the residency project will:

  • Highlight conservation initiatives
  • Explore the deep time ancestral connections between local species
  • Explore the geological history of the region
  • Highlight unique endemic flora
  • Share the connections between astronomy and traditional knowledge

Genestreams Sculptures:Mali Moir and Ben Beeton in consultation and collaboration with the local community will be creating the art for the digital model of the Mount Magnet Genestreams Sculpture. Later a real Genestreams Sculpture using the art could be installed on site.

Genestreams sculpture concept design


First Genestreams Sculpture being constructed through Gondwana Link. Sculpture features concept pictures the real artworks are currently being created.

Paleo Art dress Gondwana in Toowoomba, artwork created by Ben Beeton and Dr Gillian Scott turned into a dress by Mali Moir


Mali Moir Former Projects

Mali Moir CV – http://cargocollective.com/malimoir/CV

Becklers Botanical Bounty –
http://cargocollective.com/malimoir/Becklers-Botanical-Bounty

Eternal Order in Nature –
http://cargocollective.com/malimoir/Eternal-Order-in-Nature

Papua New Guinea –
http://cargocollective.com/malimoir/Papua-New-Guinea

Wilsons Prom –
http://cargocollective.com/malimoir/Wilsons-Prom


Ben Beeton – Artist Statement / Bio

Ben Beeton has completed over 35 artist residency projects around Australia and abroad visually interpreting the ecology, geology and deep time history of natural systems and promoting ecotourism. He has worked in partnership with ANU in the development of a range of science communication tools for teaching and public displays focusing on conservation and deep time awareness. The presentation below was given during National Science Week in Melbourne.