Dibirdibi Country 2009

Sally Gabori made this painting, Dibirdibi Country, with what looks like acrylic on canvas, though the exact date of its making is unknown. The first thing that strikes you is the directness of the mark-making. It’s like she's building up the painting with blocks of pure colour. The colours are so raw, so unapologetically themselves. Look at the juicy red, the bold black, the clean white, all jostling for space. It’s not about blending or shading; it’s about the sheer physicality of paint, the way it sits on the surface, thick and opaque. Take that black looping form in the lower left. It’s not trying to be anything other than itself, a stroke of pure pigment, yet it holds the whole composition together, acting like an anchor. Gabori's paintings make me think of the way Joan Mitchell used colour to evoke emotion and memory. But Gabori’s work has a unique voice, a direct line to her country and her stories. Art, like memory, is an ongoing conversation, a way of understanding and celebrating the world in all its glorious messiness.