The Broken Line exhibition Darwin

The Broken Line was a dialogue with Mirima National Park situated on the edge of Kununurra.  I lived near here for 6 months and gradually began to learn about the natural and cultural environment. The paper works were brought to the NCCA gallery in Darwin and were responded to in the gallery.

I aim to challenge the European landscape tradition of figure on ground and propose a new viewpoint of ground on ground.  I use the paper, which is normally seen as a ground, to become a line in the environment.  This line becomes covered in the ground of the site, acting as a membrane to record the events of my visit and the contours of the ground below.  This ground is washed, ironed, folded and mended as I use my cultural language of care on the work.

The ground is taken into the gallery and placed on the ground of the gallery wall.  There is a constant shift between what is the ground and where the viewer situates themselves.  Like the ashes we will eventually become, the charcoal and ochre drawings shift between being under the ground or as a record of our presence over the ground.