Ned Grant

2019, acrylic on linen
2000 x 1370 mm
Cat No. 19-252

Selected: Men from Spinifex Country
Spinifex Arts Project

Ned Grant follows the wata (tree roots) underground as they search for life affirming water sources. He sees them intertwined in the fabric of the significant sites he paints, depicting them as metamorphic beings from creation or as life saving water catchments in times of drought. This linking with this flora permeates all of Ned's work as he identifies with the spiritual connection the trees have always possessed across the lands and through eons. Today his journey takes him to Palpatatjara and the sacred site of the Tjulpu Tjuta Tjukurpa (Many Birds Creation Line) that tells of the epic journey of the bird men who travelled south to save the world from the rising sea waters. These are creation beings and as such created the landscape as they journeyed through it, leaving a religious narrative within the indelible physical reminders of their power and presence.