Artist Statement

Quietly is my new collection of paintings completed during the last months of 2018. The paintings represent a narrative of the everyday in our landscape. Small moments comprising the whole.

I am privileged to live and work on the banks of the Thule Lagoon, adjacent to the Perricoota Forest on the Murray River floodplain. The lagoon was once the bed of the Murray River, till a geological shift 30 thousand years ago changed the course of the river and created a series of creeks and lagoons. Ancient redgums tower above us. Young trees regenerate when the waters subside. The country then quickly extends to encompass sandhills and open saltbush plains. As the seasons ebb and flow, so does our immediate environment.

The notion of place making to connect people and create social and cultural cohesion is commonly applied to urban contexts. The premise being that connection promotes understanding, well being and care of a place. I am taken by the notion of place making relating to the landscape. Works created out of the landscape can contribute to a collective sense of place.

2018 was an exceptionally dry year and to live here requires an acceptance and understanding of place in all its guises. If you don’t bend, you may break. We sit here quietly whilst recognising the power of this land and it’s arid beauty. It embraces us as we must embrace it.