This is an expanse of country found on the edge of Mimili within the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia. Robert Fielding, a first-time Wynne and Archibald Prize finalist, has returned to this place many times over the past 30 years. ‘When I first moved to Mimili, I was just learning my culture’s ways,’ says Fielding. ‘This was a place from which I could watch, observe, learn, and sit in silence, listening to country, listening to inma (ceremonial song and dance), watching from afar.’
Fielding’s painting layers photograph and memory to veil what should be kept secret from an uninitiated audience. His bold colours and overpainting give the landscape a sense of movement, heavily implying that this place is alive. This is a sentience formed from the beating heart of community, which the artist likens to the earth’s rhythm. ‘You can see far from up here, seeing all the people that have come before us, all the people yet to come,’ Fielding adds. ‘Iriti kuwari ngula – past, present and future – all connected in this earth.’