Sand Tracks (HC401)

Catalogue Record

Collection

Maker

Vanessa Rolf

Title

Sand Tracks

Date

2004

Materials and techniques

Hand embroidered wool felt

Dimensions

length:  81.3cm
width:  51.6cm
depth:  0.2cm

Object number

HC401

Category

Maker's statement

This series of works focused on notions of topography and ownership, specifically the contradictions between those of Australian Aboriginal peoples and western settlers. The pieces were an attempt to understand a landscape purely through its depiction in maps; an imagined journey across on the largest limestone dessert in Australia, the Nullarbor Plane. The work questioned the role that charting technologies play in imperialistic ventures and claims on land and resources; operating in direct opposition to Aboriginal understanding, where landscapes are not depicted visually but orally and can only be understood by directly travelling through them.