Petrichor

2021 / PORT PIRIE REGIONAL ART GALLERY

Petrichor : A pleasant, distinctive smell frequently accompanying the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. [ Oxford English Dictionary ]

This work was nearly titled Look Out For Snakes.

During our childhood, whenever walking around the farm, Dad would badger us to constantly scan the ground with our eyes, on high alert for snakes.

The product of this is a strange ingrained behaviour of intently staring downwards while I walk, and an unusual appreciation for the ground.

By filming the farm surfaces at close proximity, and projecting them at a large scale, I’m trying to offer a more intimate appreciation of these surfaces - an opportunity to consider the characteristics, the history, the familiarity of the surfaces that are so integral to our lives, and the lives of those who were supported by these grounds before us.

Petrichor was filmed on Nukunu land, on the artist’s family farm (the Mid-North region, South Australia). This work has been generously supported by the Carclew and Adelaide Central School of Art.