Dibirdibi Country 2011

Sally Gabori made Dibirdibi Country with paint, though when exactly is lost to time. The whole thing is kind of brushed and scumbled, you know? Like the paint was coaxed into being. Look closely and you'll see these vibrant brushstrokes, almost like the land itself is made of them. The way she lays down the orange, it's like a heartbeat. There’s something urgent about it, a pure transmission. Then the white, in contrast, almost like it’s breathing. It feels like Gabori wasn’t trying to represent a place, but to embody it. To make it live again. Gabori’s paintings remind me a little of Joan Mitchell’s. Not in terms of style, but in how they both manage to capture a feeling, a mood, that’s bigger than just what’s on the canvas. Like you could step right into it. It's as if the painting is just one note in an ongoing conversation.