EVIDENCE
Mesh - Under the title
Leaves - on the Grass
Fibres - the clouds
Misting - the sky
Tone on tone - the salt lake
Elements floating - the clouds
Curved Shape - the sun
TESTIMONY
Insiration word float used
SCULPTURES WESTERN AUSTRALIA
We almost didn’t make the effort to visit these life size sculptures on a salt lake in the outback. They are so far off the beaten track, we needed an extra two days and another thousand kilometres to get there.
There are 51 steel sculptures of men, women and children, over 10 square kilometres, all of which have to accessed by foot.
We got up in the dark and drove about 50 kilometres from Menzies to Lake Ballard. Before sunrise, we walked on the salt lake and approached the first sculpture. There had been rain two days before and our boots cracked the salt crust and squished down in sticky red clay.
Whilst standing, observing one figure, another loomed far off, in the distance, with the footprints of previous travellers urging us forward.
The stark, gaunt figures are based on body scans of people, mostly Aboriginal, who live in Menzies and somehow their spirits seem to hover over, guard and guide this remote landscape.
As the sun rose, the heat haze shimmered on the horizon so that the next figure appeared to move towards us, floating across the landscape.
There was not another soul in sight, just us and the sculptures. I had a sense of being connected to something far greater and more infinite than myself, like being on the edge of endlessness; solitary, stark, silent, sentient, serene.
I started with a plain white page and had fun playing with texture paste, acrylic and water colour paints.
The title is by Scrap FX.
The boots are those I have worn since 1996.
They are soooo comfortable.
I made the embellie of the aboriginal motif.
It's a symbol of people gathered, seated on the land.
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