The Guardian

Oil Painting, 91 x 122 cm

This oil painting is part of “Communing with Creatures”, a major, ongoing series in my arts practice. The setting is inspired by the Purnululu mountain range (Bungle Bungles) in the Kimberley of Western Australia.

The woman, as all women in my artworks, is naked—a visual metaphor of the devotion to the natural world and the honest, close bond to animals. She lies on her side, peacefully resting. On top of her, a monitor lizard stretches out along the length of her body, looking watchfully into the distance. An intimate, trusting position.

The woman, as all women in my artworks, is a self portrait, indicative of my personal relationship to lizards and my idiosyncratic interpretation of the Jungian anima and animus. Accordingly, the proportion female/lizard is non-realistic and personal.

Please find the full artist statement for the series “Communing with Creatures” in the “painting” section, under “The Rescue”.