in 2019 I won the Hawkesbury Art Prize, and part of the winnings was a residency at an estate in the Blue Mountains near Bilpin and Kurrajong Heights. The area had suffered greatly during the bushfires of 2019/2020, and was both horrifying and captivating. In some areas there was regrowth, but other areas remained very bleak indeed. I spent a lot of time bushwalking, drawing and taking photographs, enthralled with the terrain and the tortured flora. This particular artwork is of the view south from Bell's Line of Road, looking towards Mount Hay. The trees were charcoal, the ground sandy and littered with fallen trunks. The land south of the property is called 'The Devil's Wilderness', an evocative name that fits the destruction.
The artwork is on 12mm thick marine ply, cradled with pieces of timber to give it more depth. The base layer is pages from Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species - since the artwork depicts a great challenge to nature, I thought that appropriate. The text gives an extra degree of depth to the image above, which is comprised of linoprints, and washes of acrylic paint. The artwork is ready to hang without needing to be framed, but please be aware that it's quite heavy.
A dramatic, powerful piece about nature's beauty and vulnerability.
