Colonial Heat 2: Panninher Country near Longford

‘This work evokes historical anglicisations of Tasmanian country, depicting a stripped landscape gridded by gorse bush, berry hedgerows and other introduced species. An almost toxic palette signals sunset prettiness, but also alludes to the effects of climate change. Arthur Streeton once painted gorsescapes as emblematic expressions of antipodean settler arcadia. However, this picture’s deceptive beauty nods to erasure and threat. I suggest that the colonial past is not remote, but that, inside our colonial continuum, aestheticised landscapes are purveyed despite devastations to local ecologies.