Kate Shaw Milkwater

Milkwater is a term used to describe the milky-looking creeks that form after the rains in the Top End of Australia. This work was inspired by a Tjukurpa (Dreaming) that an artist from Balgo told me, which related milk water to the Milky Way galaxy. My paintings deal with the tensions and dichotomies in both the depiction of the natural world and our relationship to it. I am concurrently exploring the sublime in nature whilst imbuing a sense of toxicity and artificiality in this depiction. The intention is to reflect upon the contradiction between our inherent connection to the natural world and continual distancing from it.

Kate Shaw, 2012