Koroitj – Approaching Midnight

The natural environment of South-West Victoria is a great source of artistic inspiration for my landscape paintings, prints and drawings. Having lived in the bush and on the coast in Wadawurrung Country, and now in the shadow of Koroitj/Tower Hill on Gundjitmara land, for most of my life, these wild and beautiful vistas have seeped into my soul.

This large painterly drawing, Koroitj-Approaching Midnight, reflects my passion for place, and the title references the Doomsday Clock.

In 1892, Koroitj/Tower Hill, a dormant volcano and crater lake, became Victoria’s first National Park. Despite this status, the park was completely denuded. In 1966, Eugene von Guérard’s iconic painting, Tower Hill, was gifted to the Department of Sustainability and Environment and was used to inform the revegetation of Koroitj/Tower Hill. This demonstrates that even though the clock is ticking, the interconnectedness of art and the natural world is powerful and redemptive.