Disturbed site, 2001
gesso and acrylic medium on composition board, variable dimensions
collection the artist

This work is a direct response to my time working at the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service during 2000 and 2001 during which time I learnt a great deal about the range of ways that people, publicly and privately, consider the land and waters. This painting presents an enlargement of an Aboriginal Site Index Card that the Heritage Section of the Parks and Wildlife Department complete to record each reported Aboriginal site. The categories on this card that require completion reflect inherent failures in the Tasmanian Government system to recognise that Aboriginal culture is ongoing and didn't end in 1876 with the death of Truganini. The 1976 Aboriginal Relics act recognises Aboriginal sites as anything created or occupied by an Aboriginal person up to but not beyond 1876. This I find particularly disturbing.