Upon reflection, inspiration for my work seems to organically cycle between an oriental aesthetic - the arts, poetry and philosophy of Japanese Zen culture, to influences from Australia, the land that I both live and create on. In this time of Covid and multiple lockdowns, I find myself more deeply immersed in the landscape that I have always connected to as my ‘country’.
The abstracted landscapes from my most recent series, ‘Resonance', depict oscillating mountain-scapes partially concealed by waves andmist illustrating the constant sound and motion of the vibrating universe. This series of paintings are inspired by the relatively recent discovery that sound waves actually created the universe.
“Sound is the force of creation, the true whole. Music then, becomes the voice of the great cosmic oneness and therefore the optimal way to reach this final state of healing.” ― Hazrat Inayat Khan
“Creation Song”, Mixed Media on Canvas, 122cm x 152cm, 2021
‘Creation Song' (above) among other works in my most recent series is inspired by the discovery that ancient sound waves actually sculpted the universe and that without primal sound there would be no galaxies, stars, or planets. These new paintings depict the creation of the earth through the vibration of sound and more specifically, to the formation of the land I call home. The hauntingly primal nature of the Australian landscape.
The two paintings below offer an invitation to contemplate a moment in ‘dreamtime’ where the rhythmic movement of the pre-eminent creative ancestral spirit, the ‘Rainbow Serpent’ formed this ancient continent..
Imagine if you will - the looping, primal drone of the didgeridoo as a background soundtrack to the mounding and shaping of the original landscape of this country.
“Rhythm of Becoming”, Mixed Media on Canvas, 152cm x 122cm, 2021
Lockdown
As is the case across the globe with restricted travel and multiple local 'Lockdowns', the new reality we have no alternative than to embrace and reconnect with our local area. This paradigm also reflects in my artwork.
The practice of ‘Dadirri’ (the Aboriginal word for deep listening) has recently become popular in response to this current climate of mental illness, stress and depression where individuals are turning to mindfulness and meditation. Similar to Zen, Dadirri is a multi-sensory meditative practice. Dadirri offers us a synchronisation with the rhythm of the land, a deep respect for life and it's cycles and recognition of the 'oneness' in all things. First nation's writer and senior elder, Miriam-Rose describes "Dadirri is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness. Dadirri recognises the deep spring that is inside us. We call on it and it calls on us... When I experience Dadirri, I am made whole again..."
For me, the concept of Dadirri relates to the word, 'presence'. Lockdown has offered me the time and space to be truly present to the bushland, hills, rivers and creeks surrounding me, and the paintings that have been created during this period arose through this deep presence.
“Empty Gaze Beyond Silence”, Mixed Media and Liquid Chrome on Canvas, 122cm x 122cm, 2021
Nillumbik (Shallow Earth)
Being raised as a child on a bush block backing onto the Diamond Creek, we spent a great deal of our spare time down by the back exploring, cutting new tracks through the bush, building rafts and cubby houses, finding freshwater mussels and catching the odd eel.
While my brother and sister probably don’t even remember, Mum would tell us that the spirit of the Aboriginal ancestors who walked in this land before us could still be sensed in the bush around us. I loved this thought and her words have always stayed with me. It was fascinating to imagine what life may have been like when the Wurundjeri inhabited this part of Victoria, which before colonisation was the most populated region of Australia. Throughout my life, I have always felt as though the ancestral spirits were very closely interwoven with our physical day to day reality.
In the 70’s however, school history taught very little of the traditional owners of this area - focusing more intently on the pioneering families from Europe who purchased property and settled in the Nillumbik Shire.
While so much of the indigenous history has been lost thankfully elements of the story of the Wurundjeri, who called this area home, is being taught by some of the remaining elders.
Now as an adult, I’m living a short walk from the Yarra River. Lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 enabled me to follow my inspiration to explore the relatively unchartered corners of the Nillumbik Shire, in particular the bush land on banks of the Yarra River from Warrandyte through to Laughing Waters.
‘Gambi Baan - Laughing Waters’, Mixed Media on Canvas, 122cm x 122cm, 2021
Unlike Europe with its great cathedrals, forts and castles telling stories of centuries past, here in Australia we have virtually no man-constructed monuments to relay the history of this ancient land. It’s through the recently classified ‘significant’ objects and sites such as scar trees, birthing trees, shell middens and mounds that we can glean an understanding of Wurundjeri life on the very soil we call home.
Locally, one significant site is ‘Gambi Baan’ (Laughing Waters, Warrandyte) where Wurundjeri eel (iuk) traps remain intact until this day.
Some native traditions across the world, believe that the energy of events that have occurred on the earth tend to remain, even after the physical experience has ended. believing that the land energetically remembers significant experiences and that these experiences can be sensed long afterwards.
This painting has been inspired through a sitting ‘on country’ and feeling into the land at at the site of the eel traps.
(Huge thanks to local archeologist Jillian Garvey for showing me this special place)
Nyilum Bik - Shallow Earth, Mixed Media on Canvas, 101cm x 101cm, 2021
This work, also inspired by the beauty of this ancient land right beneath our feet, contains different coloured palette to those used in the previous series. The contrast between the warm, coppery tones of the burnt sienna and raw umber, beneath the cool turquoise and jade green on the surface echoes the palette of the bushland around my studio.
Rather than a literal landscape from the area, these works are more impressions of my spiritual relationship to this, the land that I have always called home. While collecting stories from Wurundjeri Elders and historians about the area, I've also spent time sketching and in "Dadirri" meditation 'on country'. Listening to the wind, sensing the songlines and feeling the spirit of this ancient land.