Christine Fontana
Goddiggers: Inland Sea, 2022
pen, ink and acrylic on rice paper
56 x 94 cm
Artist statement
Goddiggers is a light-hearted reflection on the Anglo-European relationship to landscape, presenting human resistance to the bigger ecological story. By depicting our evolving understanding of pre-history – revealed by the land itself through geological and archaeological exploration – my aim is to encourage reflection on the challenges the natural world now places on our ideological outlook. Oblivious to the sheer force of seismic events that have shaped Australia throughout geological time, the activity of nuns in the outback hints at colonial presence and disconnection as a well-meaning but detrimental incongruity. The repercussions of our obstinate insistence on a human-centric world narrative: implied.
Artist bio
With an ongoing focus on the relationship between story, geography and identity, my practice is characterised by a historically influenced aesthetic in which drawing plays a major role. Combining verbal and visual language to contextualise contemporary issues within historical form enables me to examine selected stories of human action and inaction, with an emphasis on socio-evolutionary continuity.