Dibirdibi Country 2009

Sally Gabori made this painting, Dibirdibi Country, with what looks like acrylic on canvas, and what strikes me is the energy of the brushstrokes. It’s like she’s not just painting a place, but also a feeling, a memory, a connection. I’m thinking about her process, maybe standing in front of the canvas, intuitively applying these blocks of color: the blues, reds, blacks and whites. There is an intense orange in the middle that draws my eye. What was she thinking? Was she remembering the shape of the land, or the mood of a particular day? I can imagine the painting as a kind of map, but also as a deeply personal expression of belonging. It reminds me of other painters, like Joan Mitchell, or Helen Frankenthaler, who are also trying to capture a sense of place and feeling through color and gesture. Artists have been in dialogue across time. What is certain is that Gabori, like them, leaves us with something open, alive, and pulsing with possibility.