Mungo Woman
An exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra
from 27th September to 13th October 2013
Mungo Woman is a series of paintings inspired by the Lake Mungo area in far western NSW. A prior residency at The Art Vault facilitated the work by giving me the opportunity to spend extended time in the area and to engage with the landscape during the heat of summer in January 2010. I was drawn to include stories associated with the Mungo woman who lived there 40,000 years ago and is believed to be the world’s oldest known cremation. Mungo man was discovered in 1974 and his body was covered with red ochre in the earliest known example of a sophisticated and artistic burial practice. Other ancient cremations are now known.
These bodies in the landscape have evolved into works that juxtapose the dry desert areas, the remains of our most ancient ancestors and the flora which exists there today. Identification with the area has led me to an ongoing exploration of its forms and symbolism and has enabled me to capture linkages to mystery and spirituality in my strive to paint something beyond the visible subject itself.
.Paintings
Eremophila child
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76 cm
Botanical woman
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76 cm
New growth
(2011)
oil on canvas
76 x 76 cm
Tomb
(2011)
oil on canvas
46 x 91.5 cm
Woman of fossils
(2011)
(diptych)
oil on canvas
77 X 155 cm
Red
(2013)
oil on canvas
91.5 x 122 cm
Mungo Woman
(2013)
oil on board
61 x 121.5 cm
Dune #1
(2013)
oil on board
61 x 121.5 cm
Dune # 2
(2013)
oil on board
61 x 121.5 cm
Dune #3(2013)
oil on board
61 x 121.5 cm
Dune #4(2013)
oil on board
61 x 121.5 cm
Lunette #1-#6
(2013)
oil on board
35 x 40 cm each
Prints
Alter ego(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
16.5 x 11 cm
Burial
(2103)
pigment print on rag paper
28 x 38 cm
Disclosed
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
24 x 36.3 cm
Black ghost #4
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
27.5 x 38.5 cm
Lost
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
24 x 36.5 cm
Lunette child
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
24 x 36.5 cm
Sunset
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
26 x 38.8 cm
Sand drawing
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
18 x 27 cm
Spirit figures
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
26 x 38.8 cm
Yellow figure
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
25 x 37.5 cm
Black ghost #1(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
71.5 x 51.5 cm
Black ghost #2(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
71.5 x 51.5 cm
Black ghost #3(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
71.5 x 51.5 cm
White spirit figure(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
53.5 x 57.5 cm
Painted sand(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
53 x 71 cm
Earth mother(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
56 x 57.5 cm
Lunette girl
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
55 x 57.5 cm
Close focus
(2013)
pigment print on rag paper
43.5 x 57.5 cm
More images can be found in Digital Composites