Gallery 3

A Sense of Place

In 2008, in ‘Sense of Place' a joint exhibition with three of my fellow ‘Artisannes' from the Darwin rural area, I reflected on the area surrounding my home in Humpty Doo. I used to think of Landforms as eternal, or changing infinitesimally on a geological timescale. But here, the changes were rapid and catastrophic. The Creek and surrounding wetlands as I first knew them, were devasted by human intervention. The land form and drainage pattern changed completely. Now I watch Geological forces work on a minute scale, condensed in time and place to create new landscapes, continents and rivers.

The Place - a landscape

Pastel on paper

48cm x 62cm

Our Place

The block of land registered in our name, which we pretend to 'own'.

Pastel on card

45cm x 55cm

Out of Mind (or mined) place

Pastel on card

45cm x 55cm

Their Place (and as it was)

The family of dingoes who 'own' the last undisturbed area along our creek.

Pastel on paper (acquired by the Environment Centre, Northern Territory)

48cm x 62cm

Lilies' place

In the wet season the flooded sand pits are a carpet of minute water lilies.

Pastel on paper

48cm x 62cm

A New Landscape (in the old place)

A meandering riverlet cuts through sand – condensing Geological time onto a minute scale.

Pastel on paper

68cm x 55cm

Shoreline

Sand brought in by seasonal floods creates exciting new continents.

Pastel on paper

55cm x 68cm

Eroded Place

A tannin-stained pond created by the sandmine, the sand forms take on an almost human character. I reflect on the feelings Aboriginal people have expressed for the damage inflicted on their country.

Pastel on paper

48cm x 62cm