Drawing the Artesian: Extracting Methods to Visualise Unseen Landscapes

Abstract

Groundwater basins are vast subterranean reservoirs of water whose complexity is not yet fully understood by scientists. These ancient aquifers resist simple imaging and, through their enormity, depth and systemic complexity, present challenges to scientists and artists alike. My research practice has sought to deploy various drawing strategies and print processes to uncover something of the land/water interactive systems that we cannot visibly experience. A deeper personal understanding of the fragile history and geography of Western Queensland has been revealed through the physical act of mark making on site at these watersheds. Through the construction of my immersive drawing investigations, the earth, rocks, water and the surrounding physical environments have influenced my ways of seeing, reacting and perceiving and, in the process, enabled a new response to land.