Xanthorrhoea

Xanthorrhoea, also known as Grass Trees are endemic to Australia. The Latin name refers to the golden resin that flows from the bark of the tree. The non-indigenous name traditionally used by the settlers until recently was 'black boy' and references the violent nature of the country's racial history. Grass trees have retained sacred and useful roles within the the lives of First Nations peoples who have many names for these plants across languages.

The golden resin that inspired the species Latin name has been collected for generations to make glue. Known to both survive and thrive with fire, their body often charred by the flames of bushfires act as natural timelines conveying seasonal patterns. 

In 2020 I painted Xanthorrhoea on skin in Dharawal country (NSW, Australia) where today endemic plant and animal species can be found in patchworks where agriculture and urban life is not. In a place now barren of the dancing grass trees my brush acted as conduit: imagining their presence in that landscape less than 300 years prior. The kangaroo skin that provides the surface of the painting has a visible centralised bullet hole where the animal was shot. The work is a message of promise, where the plants act to heal the wounded skin and our broken relationship with the endemic ecologies that were once comprehended as our kin.