Waychinicup - Place of Emu Dreaming
Jill Kempson
2006 | oil on marine ply | accession number 689
purchased by the Art Board 2006 - Murdoch University Art Collection

Jill KEMPSON

born 1961, Melbourne, Victoria
lives and works Perth, Western Australia

Artist statement:

From 2004-2005 I researched and experimented with the historical painting techniques of the Old Masters.

In July 2004 I received a Development Grant from ArtsWA to do this research at the Centre for Research and Restoration for French Museums which is located within the Musee du Louvre in Paris France. Then in July 2005 I traveled to Maastricht in The Netherlands to study at the Limbourg Restoration Centre, an intensive course in the historical painting techniques. This painting is part of a body of work which resulted from the knowledge acquired from these two periods of learning.

This painting’s namesake Waychinicup is an area located in the south west of Western Australia. Waychinicup represents to me a place that is virtually untouched by human intervention. It is a landscape that has been beautifully designed by time and the elements. Waychinicup in its own particular way also possesses the subtle tonalities and elusive moods of many of the landscapes I painted while studying in Europe. Here is a landscape that was inhabited by Australia’s indigenous people. It was their place of Emu dreaming and for me their presence is still felt there.

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