Sheep were first pushed out into the hot, dry "stations" of the Australian interior during the 1840s to 1860s. This expansion was driven by a combination of economic ambition, new technology, and a colonial worldview that saw the arid landscape as "wasted" unless it was put to industrial use. Here in Australia, wild non-native species are avidly destroyed, yet these farm animals are non-native. Natural native predators are destroyed to prevent them from killing the farm animals, however destroying these predators destroys the fragile ecosystem that nature has spent millions of years creating. Farming is destroying the land, and old habits need to die. I was shocked and horrified during my initial road trips into the outback. We drove through mile after mile of cleared farmland, only to discover these vast 'Cattle Stations' in the dusty sweltering dry heat of desert land. With every individual face that I painted I thought of the soul that lived through hell.
Oil on recycled wood panel
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