This exhibition is in celebration of 100 plus years of Women in the Northcliffe region, and we are happy to announce that artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist with her artwork 'Drift-wood' The exhibition runs till the 12th May if you visit Painted Tree Gallery, Northcliffe Information & Visitor Centre, Lot 178 Muirillup Rd, Northcliffe WA 6262
Artist statement: ‘Drift-wood’ is a reflective emotive piece in response to truth-telling with Wardandi Elder Sue Kelly (nee Froome). She tells of her Wardandi great grandmother Elizabeth Hill (nee Dawson) born circa 1850, who in her elder years was denied a pension or government support on the grounds she couldn’t prove she was an Australian. She relied on family bonds to support her until her death in 1947 at Jardee on her son’s property, aged 97. Portrayed next to her is Sue age 4, now 75. 150 years on, has much changed when we talk of displacement and belonging? In the face of the referendum and ‘no’ vote, perhaps not? The deliberation to paint on charred jarrah bark, remnants of a recent bush fire, aims to highlight the intrinsic millennium connection of noongar peoples with country. The washed white oil scrutinises the discriminatory policies of our colonial history, heavy set against the dark jarrah they give the impression the figures are floating off of the wood, unfixed, a-drift.