Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming - Sand-Hill Country (after Hailstorm) 2000

Kathleen Petyarre made this painting, 'Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming - Sand-Hill Country (after Hailstorm),' with earth pigments on canvas. I can only imagine the process of patiently building up the surface, dot after dot. It’s kind of wild to think about the physicality of the painting, you know? The sandy, off-white ground with the topographical lines of the land. I wonder what Petyarre was thinking about as she made this; perhaps the shimmer and light on the landscape after the storm. I love the way the lines move and curve, giving the whole thing a sense of dynamic energy, like the land itself is breathing. Petyarre's paintings connect with the long history of landscape art and abstraction. Artists are constantly borrowing, stealing, and remixing, whether they know it or not. Painting is this ongoing conversation, echoing across time, and each work is just one little part of the story.