“Spirit of the Maranoa” presented by Roberts, Hardess and Tyurina

The action of drawing or mark making has been used for tens of thousands of years to trace human perceptions of surrounding environments, to make sense of or make evident what is physically there, and to imagine other geographical or historical perspectives. The human need to link, connect and find relations to things, even though they may be disparate, are core to this project’s investigations. Such an analogical application ties together the phenomena that are both visible and invisible to the human eye, a way to express ourselves in relation to familiar and unfamiliar experiences. Drawing is a way of seeing these interconnections through the methodology of chance, such as the technique of frottage which reveals a surface that can be interpreted physically, historically, and culturally. The action of embedding marks across a paper surface is a visceral, physical, and gestural method using both haptic and auditory senses. It allows the drawer to absorb the echoes, sounds, and tactile experiences from their environs.
Frottage was therefore used by Yimbaya Maranoa (Arts Collective) formerly known as the Remapping Mitchell Arts Collective in a collaborative session during its camping residency at Mt Moffatt in 2023. The area is a profoundly significant place for Gunggari People and is part of the Carnarvon Range, headwaters of the Maranoa River and a recharge site for the Great Artesian Basin.