A selection of images from the Broken Ground sequence. Most of these works were painted during my stint as Artist in Residence at Ballarat University in 2010.
In the post-mining landscape of the Goldfields region surrounding Ballarat little remains of the buildings and mechanism involved in the Victorian gold rush. The evidence for the dramatic upheaval of that era is mostly embodied in the topography, now covered in second-growth forest. Mine shafts, mullock heaps, water races and the remains of dams contribute to a landscape the rises and falls, twists and turns and lies at odd, unexpected angles. Gold still lurks in the landscape, for those lucky enough and dedicated enough to find it.