We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

James Drinkwater Passage to Rungli Rungliot

oil on hardboard

180 x 360 cm

Rungli Rungliot, from the language of the Sauria Paharia people of West Bengal, translates as ‘thus far and no further’. It is the name given to a Tasmanian Highland hut nestled in a sapling forest in the land of a thousand lakes. Sixty years ago, the original owners of the hut found their Eden. It was a place to be at peace with the world – they needed to search no more.

I travelled to this place and immersed myself in the trees next to the lake where I documented and created drawings and paintings, both day and night.

James Drinkwater, 2017