Arrival

Handcoloured Linoprint, 21 x 29 cm

This linoprint is part of my series “Embracing nature”. This series is significant and ongoing in my arts practice and based on important areas of my life—my environmental work and my interest in the mythic bond between humans and the natural world. I have stalked, wrestled, seduced and been seduced by this theme across many art media: sculpture, printmaking, drawing, collage, water colour and oil painting.

The setting for these artworks are based on sketches made in the Australian outback or sceneries inspired by the Australian landscape. As in all of my artworks, the female figures are naked—a visual metaphor with several aspects (please see my notes for “The Rescue” in my painting section) but in this series mainly symbolising total openness and the devotion to nature. As in all of my artworks, the females are representing myself.

A self portrait gives me the opportunity to step back, observe and ask the woman in this artwork—myself: are you resting because the hill is behind you? Or are you gathering strength for climbing the hill? Or are you simply listening to the voices of the ancient soil?