Beautiful escape into a world of stories

Margaret River artist and storyteller Sky River will this week launch her newest production, representing four years of work to deliver a deeply South West story to the stage with the help of a team of talented collaborators.

Recently, Sky was named the Regional Arts WA Artist of the Month, and sat down to discuss her journey so far…

Before she was a storyteller, Sky River consumed books.

Growing up in inner Melbourne, Sky craved something beyond the structured world of organised sport and the urban life around her. Literature made more sense.

“It was much more of a wild escape into the world of stories,” she said. “I liked looking at things through a different lens.”

That escape to books led her to the lands of Narnia and Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, Tolkien and Magic Middle Earth. Otherworldly places where the rigid lines between human life and nature blurred.

Hybrid life forms, fluid realities, the interconnectedness of all things – these were themes she absorbed early and has carried into her own creative practice.

Sky went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree and an Honours at Edith Cowan University, where she delved into the studies of archetypes and eco-psychology – two frameworks that continue to shape her storytelling.

“An archetype is a summary of different characters,” she explains.

“If I were to say to you, ‘Oh, there’s a villain,’ then you would instantly come up with an image of what that looks like. Or, ‘Here’s the old wise woman who lives in the woods.’ She’s an archetype. Archetypes are metaphors or symbols for character types in a story-we know their traits instantly.”

Her study then took a more eco-psychology focus, giving her a framework to explore her relationship with the natural world – particularly while living in a region so naturally abundant.

“Wadandi people have cared for Country here for over 65,000 years. There’s a beautiful, rich, old culture that doesn’t have the same nature-human divide that we embrace in Western culture,” she said.

“As a non-Indigenous Australian, I can’t take on a cultural story that’s not mine. So how do I explore this same understanding-that we belong to Country and are part of it?

“For me, eco-psychology provided a way. It’s a psychological science, but as an artist, I’ve used it as a framework to think beyond just my human identity and belonging in a wider sense of self that includes the natural world.”

Her latest work, Marri Tree Girl, a theatre production four years in the making, is a culmination of those ideas.

Sky has worn many hats in this project-writer, producer, director, and puppet creator – but she is quick to emphasise the collaborative nature of the final show.

“The work is a collaboration of over 10 artists,” she explained.

“It’s an exploration of puppetry and digital media, and all the artists involved have been passionate throughout their careers about exploring nature and environmental issues.”

The production delves into the Marri Canker disease, a fungal infection spreading via airborne spores that is devastating up to 80 percent of Marri trees in built-up areas of the south west.

“The spore has always been around, but when the trees are all growing together in a healthy ecosystem, their roots all support each other and they stay strong and they’re not affected by the canker,” Sky said.

“But because we’ve cleared so many of them, they don’t have their support networks. So now the spores are actually killing the trees. They get into the trunk, they get into the bark, and they soften it, and the trees are dying.”

Sky sees theatre-making as a deeply collaborative process, contrasting with the often isolating nature of writing alone or working solo on visual artwork.

“Theatre allows me to weave together so many different art forms,” she said.

This collaborative spirit extends to her work with Wadandi Cultural Custodians Zac and Wayne Webb, who provided consultation throughout the project’s development. Josh Whiteland from Koomal Dreaming provided a track of his music for the show, and Malgana woman, Janine Oxenham is a performer in the production.

Thanks to funding from various Regional Arts grants, all collaborators were fairly compensated and supported during the project. Skilled puppeteers have mentored the next generation. Digital animators have brought screen elements to life.

The project is as much about building a sustainable arts ecosystem as it is about telling a story.

“I’m also so incredibly grateful to have had the expertise from our digital media specialist Danny Jennings, set designer Kathi Meister, leather master David Skeats, music composer Saul Harvey Cresswell, and upskilling with the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.”

Sky’s commitment to community is evident in all that she does.

Beyond working with First Nations people on this project, she has also worked as a drama teacher at schools around the region, and with Artzability, an organisation providing activities for people with disabilities living locally.

She believes in the importance of giving back, of making space for artistic expression.

Through Marri Tree Girl, she offers a powerful invitation: to reconnect with nature, to see with fresh eyes, and to remember our place within the living world.

‘Marri Tree Girl’ premieres at the Margaret River HEART this Friday March 14 and Saturday March 15.

For tickets and all information, visit artsmargaretriver.com