Edge

while overseas i saw an interesting video piece ,a sort of stand off between a wolf and a deer.I took notes and as I pondered the complexity of their relationship ,i began to see the whole scenario as a possible metaphor for colonial rule. in a land which was never intended for occupation save for the indigenous population, Tasmania provided me with both the landscape and the narrative to make a body of work of which these pieces are a part. through the sparse use of text applied only to a few of the images ,I allude to a notion of the strong subordinating the weak, a dangerous and often unfounded premise. "Diemens" describes this group of pictures and others which followed from a previus Tasmanian inspired exhibition entitled "devils heart" In all paintings I sought to render the quixotic nature of Tasmanian light , the brooding quality of surging land masses and the clarity and crystal stillness of expansive waters. The breadth of tonal range within these Tasmanian pictures seeks to heighten the visual drama- the palette to remind one of a dark and troubled past. Laura Matthews 2009 Sydney.