Outback Australia
Mungo Woman
Mungo Woman is a series of paintings inspired by the Lake Mungo area in far western NSW. A prior residency at The Art Vault facilitated the work by giving me the opportunity to spend extended time in the area and to engage with the landscape during the heat of summer in January 2010. I was drawn to include stories associated with the Mungo woman who lived there 40,000 years ago and is believed to be the world’s oldest known cremation. Mungo man was discovered in 1974 and his body was covered with red ochre in the earliest known example of a sophisticated and artistic burial practice. Other ancient cremations are now known.
These bodies in the landscape have evolved into works that juxtapose the dry desert areas, the remains of our most ancient ancestors and the flora which exists there today. Identification with the area has led me to an ongoing exploration of its forms and symbolism and has enabled me to capture linkages to mystery and spirituality in my strive to paint something beyond the visible subject itself.
Eremophila child
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76cm
Botanical woman
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76cm
New growth
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76cm
Tomb
(2011)
oil on canvas
46 x 91.5cm
Woman of Fossils
(2011)
oil on canvas (diptyche)
76 x 155cm
Hills of Sand
My series of work titled Hills of sand examined the Willandra Lakes area of outback New South Wales – in particular Lake Mungo which is a dry lake. My aim with the project was to juxtapose the dry desert landscape with the fossilized sea life that exists there. The area is an outstanding example representing major stages in the earth’s evolutionary history and was once a lush environment with plenty of water, teeming with animal and plant life and with the palaeontology of the area a testament to this. Research for this project was carried out prior to and during a residency at The Art Vault, Mildura.
Hills of sand was shown at Stefano’s Gallery 25 in Mildura in January 2010 and at ANCA gallery in Canberra in August 2010.
Mallee
(2010)
oil on canvas
92 x 92cm
Eucalyptus Grandia
(2010)
oil on canvas
122 x 91.3cm
Pink Lake
(2010)
oil on canvas
102 x 102cm
Melon Girl
(2010)
oil on plywood
29.5 x 121.5cm
Daisy Girl
(2010)
oil on plywood
29.5 x 120.5cm
Mungo Girl
(2010)
oil on plywood
29.5 x 120.5cm
Paddy Melons
(2010)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Dancing tree
(2009)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Mother nature (Mungo woman)
(2009)
oil on plywood
60 x 79.5cm
Poached egg daisies #1
(2009)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Poached egg daisies #2
(2010)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Shifting Sands
(2009)
oil on canvas
30 x 121.5cm
The mighty Mallee
(2009)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Tomb
(2009)
oil on canvas
46 x 46cm
Vigar’s Well
(2009)
oil on canvas
61 x 92cm
Walls of china, Lake Mungo, #1
(2010)
oil on plywood
39.5 x 80cm
Walls of china, Lake Mungo, #2
(2010)
oil on plywood
39.5 x 80cm
Walls of china, Lake Mungo, #3
(2010)
oil on plywood
39.5 x 80cm