DEEP IN LAND
Wayfinding, 2022
oil on French polyester canvas
167.5 x 202 cm, 170 x 204.5 cm (framed)
$25,000
Way finding is a metaphor for searching. Desert birds, just as other animals and fish, often use watercourses as pathways on their migratory and breeding routes. Natural landforms are deeply...
Way finding is a metaphor for searching. Desert birds, just as other animals and fish, often use watercourses as pathways on their migratory and breeding routes. Natural landforms are deeply imprinted into their species psych and sometimes even ‘skin mapped’ into their bodies. Scientific analysis of animal skin appearances and traits can reveal changes in climate, geography and multifarious data. The migratory routes of birds and animals, their tracks and scats all contain information and meaning. Indigenous peoples and scientists, have taught me to look for natural signs, for meaning in the landscape. Weather can be predicted by watching insects. Cloud formations can affect birthing cycles. I have been told that if you walk out into the desert and ask it to reveal itself, it is your duty to hear and see its answer. Landscapes tutor us. The subtlety and variety of these desert places in particular are places where I feel situated, incorporated and have learnt to listen, read the signs and see more clearly. My skin and psyche too is weathered, changed and mapped from many years of my own desert way finding.