LATE
(2023)
Winner North Sydney Art Prize
(2024)
Passage Gallery
(Sept - Nov 2023)
Sydney, Australia
Photography:
Document Photography
(2024)
Passage Gallery
(Sept - Nov 2023)
Sydney, Australia
Photography:
Document Photography
Late (2023) is a sculpture examining the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, also known as Black Summer, one of the most intense and catastrophic fire seasons on record in Australia. This work specifically maps the behaviour of the Gospers Mountain fire using climate data. Beginning on 26 October 2019, the fire burned out of control on Sydney’s fringe for 79 days, destroying over a million hectares. It remains the largest forest fire ever recorded in Australia.
Within each of its 149 charred spikes, Late encapsulates data on temperature fluctuations, precipitation patterns, and wind dynamics that influence bushfire behaviour. The data includes climate observations taken from Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) weather stations located on the multiple fronts of the fire.
In homage to the humble seed, one of nature’s great innovators, Late reimagines a serotinous, seed-like form. In botany, Serotiny simply means 'following' or ‘later'. Serotiny refers to a trait in plants where some individuals retain their seeds in cones or fruits until triggered by an environmental cue, such as fire, to release them.
Installation view, 2.4 x 2.4 x 3.4m, Late (2023), Passage Gallery, Sydney, Australia. Winner North Sydney Art Prize (2024) Photographer: Document Photography.Bae and Lawler respond to the climate emergency by seeking to understand the cost of delay in addressing climate change, using one of Australia’s largest ecological disasters as a case study. The seed-like structure of the work serves as a timely reminder of how these natural systems, shaped and adapted over millennia, stand in stark contrast to the rapid, human-induced climate crisis and the effects of decades of stalled political action.
While the impact of the Black Summer bushfires can be quantified through the 33 lives lost, more than 3,000 homes destroyed, 17 million hectares burned, and over a billion animals killed. Despite these tangible impacts, enough to sustain a 24/7 news cycle for months. Ecological discourse is often hijacked by political and vested interests that delay meaningful climate action. In response, Bae and Lawler pose the simple yet pressing question: Can we be like a seed and adapt or is it to late?
Late was commissioned by Passage Gallery, Sydney in 2023, and was the Winner of the Major Open Award, North Sydney Art Prize 2024. In 2025, it will be presented at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, located at the heart of the Gospers Mountain fire zone.
Installation view, 2.4 x 2.4 x 3.4m, Late (2023), Passage Gallery, Sydney, Australia. Winner North Sydney Art Prize (2024) Photographer: Document Photography.
ABC news footage of bushfire smoke engulfing Sydney landmarks after recording some of the worst air quality ever recorded in the city. (video still) ABC News Australia. 10 Dec 2019