Blue Dot: Claire Pendrigh

Look up – or should we say out. We inhabit a thin slice. Beneath us are layers of soil, sand, rock and magma; and above us, layers less visible radiate out from our sphere of heavier, terrestrial elements. The nestled spheres of our atmosphere are home to the clouds.

The mobiles hanging in the Schoolhouse Gallery are an invitation to cloud-gaze. The circles of sky drift gently, stirred by a breeze from an open window. These “cloud portraits” belong to Hobart. Clouds are the movement of air and water made visible, and Hobart’s cloudscapes are distinctly shaped by its geography: the mountain, the river, the sea, the city. Nothing operates in isolation Beyond the clouds the sky looks blue, and if you get far enough out and look back, the planet looks blue too. A pale blue dot, precious and extraordinary, suspended in space.