RENATA BUZIAK

In Southeast Queensland, the meeting of fresh and salt water defines fragile coastal systems
— thresholds that are ecologically delicate and socially entangled. Aquifers, creeks, tides,
urban development, and rising seas shape these shifting edges. Fresh and salt resist and
merge, continually reshaping one another.
This work was created on Minjerribah, Quandamooka Country — a place where freshwater
lakes, creeks, and coastal waters hold deep ecological and cultural significance. The large
cyanotype was made directly on the beach using sand, fresh water, seawater, and sunlight.
Cyanotype is a cameraless photographic process in which sunlight activates a sensitised
surface. I shaped a stream into the sand, widening it into branching waterways before it met
the sea, then splashed water onto cotton to expose the image in dialogue with the
elements.
Working within tidal conditions required attentiveness. Clouds shifted. Sand moved. The
tide advanced. The environment became collaborator. The work invites reflection on
resilience, responsibility, and care for these living coastal thresholds.