… to our home in Perth, Western Australia nearly 30 years ago.
I was in Perth at the time, probably packing to come over here to Uruguay, and could tell from the packaging that it was a creation returning from an exhibition, so without opening it I put it in my case and brought it with me. I unpacked it (again without opening), placed it on the bottom shelf in my sewing room, and promptly forgot about it.
Time passed, and we recently installed an elevator between the first and second floors, which on the second floor opens out into my sewing room. I/we had to move a lot of stuff around so the workmen could do their thing, and eventually, with our Easter visitors’ arrival imminent, tidying all that up became urgent. I threw out and donated a satisfying amount of stuff, and in the process came across that Australian Post Office padded mailing bag that I’d brought back from Oz which had been sitting on the bottom shelf for so many years I couldn’t remember what was in it! Here’s a quick peak –
Inside I was astonished to find this artwork I’d completely forgotten making, had never written about or even listed in my catalogue, and have never had professionally photograhed. It’s a concertina-book type of installation, 12 double sided 15cm panels of machine embroidered painted landscapes, and various dwellings from tent to apartment, and the little stands I made to hold them upright. Mixed media in today’s terms. Thank goodness some paperwork inside mentioned the title, “4WDrovers”, because I doubt I’d think of it again: I am in a totally different mindspace today, and so much water has passed under the bridge. In Australia, a drover is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep, cattle, and horses “on the hoof” over long distances. Today, many people (a big percentage of whom are retirees) spend a year or more travelling around Australia in their 4Wheel drive vehicles, most of them camping in tents and caravan parks along the way – and we call them Grey Nomads.
So, when I take my latest art quilt (tapiz) to my photographer Eduardo in a couple of weeks’ time, I’ll have him shoot 4WDrovers, too… and that, dear reader, will soon be the subject a new post here!