Land and Spirits

Linda has depicted the Country in the aerial sand painting style used for thousands of years to pass on dreaming stories. In contrast, the spirit figures are represented in the vertical, as seen on ancient rock paintings in Central Australia. The spirits are painted as they might appear when seen by Aboriginal people. Linda says “they look like cotton wool”. The background lines indicate the emotion and excitement which accompanies any sighting of Aboriginal spirits.
Linda traveled all over this landscape until she was about eight years old, until she and her family walked out of the desert. It was a long journey, up and down sand hills. After many weeks of walking they reached the Lutheran Mission at Haasts Bluff, NT. In this and other paintings like it, Linda is proclaiming to future generations that “I was there”.