Judy Watson

Born 1959 | Mundubbera
Lives and works Brisbane

Judy Watson explores the history of First Nations communities in Australia through paintings, drawings, and sculptures. For the 14th Gwangju Biennale, Watson presents a series of paintings that were made from natural ingredients collected from various rivers and streams across Queensland. Shapes and marks made from materials such as indigo paint and kangaroo grass directly inscribe the landscape onto the canvas. The paintings, in turn, almost function as maps that document the memories of landscapes that were restructured due to colonial rule. By titling the works after the locations in which the constitutive elements were found, as in burrum river with dead tree 2022, the artist evokes the ways in which Indigenous communities of Australia remember specific geographies.

Judy Watson, Installation view, 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023). Image courtesy Gwangju Biennale Foundation. Photo: glimworkers