2006
UNSW COFA Iliri Artist Scholar Program, Ochre House, Fowlers Gap, NSW
Final Dirt Access Road down to Ochre House, Fowlers Gap
View from the road to Ochre House and tree lined Gorge & surrounding hill lines
On balcony Ochre House in my dust and sun wear
View from Ochre House's Balcony
Standing on top of the Hut's hill line looking to the stoney desert
As millennium drought still at its height found dead Kangaroo close to Hut
Hill opposite cottage desert stone country
Self Portrait on a morning walk
Shadows on the ground finding saltbush remains from the drought
Life flourishing around the water of the Gorge near the hut. A haven for making small artworks in the heat of the day
Inside Ochre House Living/ Studio quarters looking outside
Close up of Saltbush
Study on wall of found horn & collected saltbush
Works in progress at Ochre House
Saltbush line study
Works in further progress during the residency
Last night at Fowlers Gap
'Iliri#1' my mapping painting of the location of Ochre House in desert stone country in drought conditions
In 2006, I spent a month alone at Ochre House, Fowlers Gap in desert conditions as part of the UNSW, Iliri Artist Scholar Program run by the College of Fine Arts. Isolated in desert stone country with intense heat and fierce global winds. Standing alone on the edge of a line of hills facing a sunken desert basin, buffeted by harsh winds, I questioned the power of abstraction alone to address the environmental issues of our time.
In that month I did many schematic drawings, studies and paintings but as time went on my gaze went to the ground where I found dried saltbush plants that I collected. Instantly I felt a connection to them. To me they are a metaphor for the feminine energy and resilience of the Australian landscape and in them I had now found a subject with spiritual and ecological connections that drew me to tell their story.
My small studies on board and larger drawings from the Residency were shown first at Charles Hewitt Gallery in Sydney at a group show Xmas 2007. These and the memories of the experience of the Residency lead the way for my larger body of work EDGE exhibited in 2008. Signalling my representaion with Anita Traverso and Charles Hewitt.