Sandhills 2004

Kathleen Petyarre has made this earth-toned painting called Sandhills with tiny clustered dots and meandering lines. I can just picture her, brush in hand, patiently building up the surface, one mark at a time, almost like she's knitting with paint. It’s that meditative process, you know? I'm thinking about the way she must have looked at the land, internalizing its forms and textures, before translating that into this abstract vision. You can almost feel the warmth of the desert and the subtle shifts in the sand dunes. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, but with an added layer of storytelling embedded within the brushstrokes. It's not just about form and color. It’s about a deep connection to place and the act of mark-making as a way of understanding and honoring the world.