WELLBORN
Mother my nature

2022
mixed media on canvas
95 x 120cm

“This opulent soil, this fertile land, what a beauty of riches I have laid upon”: Thomas .A. (second fleet)

With an aching soul I sit and wonder, will there ever be a time when we see how it was that we became who we are today?

Or even so will it be in my lifetime?

This continent, this country ‘Australia’ was birthed off the riches exhausted from the land laid before them (settlers). Rich soil, fertile lands, open plans and an ecosystem made for growth.

Nothing was said of how the land came to be so rich and fertile, of how the animals and the ecosystem were so stable, just simply that it was plentiful and easy to obtain.

Cultural practice was never acknowledged during the design of our countries historical narrative, therefore the false narrative which convinces us that the farmer and his land is something he created on his own have became a fundamental part of Australian dialogue. That this continent was harsh and unforgiving, That it was a battle to be fought and won!

This is false, to its core this continent is there for us and always was, a soft and pure entity simply waiting to be nurtured again as it once was for thousands and thousands of years prior to settlers.

Our complete disconnect from the land has forced the network of connection which was a staple in indigenous lifestyle to be almost uninterpretable to most in the modern world. But none the less it is still there.

Mother my nature is a reflection on the very fabric of nature and the false idea that we are in control of the narrative.

Our mother will always be our guide, and the outcome always laid out before us.

Mother my nature, mother I see.