Gail Hocking

The Ernabella collection is a living document that depicts transformation, adaptation and cultural change. Researching this collection has provoked a deep respect for a community and culture that has a powerful respect for the relationship between humans and non-humans.

As an artist, a woman and a mother, I was deeply affected by the sensitivity, strength, and resilience of the women in this community; women who share knowledge and affirm their connection to the land through their art and ephemeral sand drawings. As an outsider, I stand at the perimeter, catching rare glances into the fluid relationship between country and family.

Peripheral disturbance: wandering between worlds is not a direct reference of the collective Ernabella artworks. It is an abstracted shape that reflects a fleeting glimpse into a collective intimacy, inside a landscape, a people and earth others.The three new works attempt to provoke vulnerability and transience, which elicits insight into human/non-human ties.