Demi Conrad is currently exhibitions manager at Onespace Gallery. Demi wrote this essay for my exhibition ‘Shifting Sands of Land and Memory’ definitley worth a read and thank you Demi Conrad.

Demi Conrad_ Shifting Sands of Land and Memory April 2025

Shifting Sands of Land and Memory features a new series of acrylic paintings by Magan-djin/Brisbane-based artist Paula Payne. Drawing inspiration from recent time spent as Artist in Residence at the Broken Hill Art Exchange— located on Wilyakali Country in far-west New South Wales—this new series captures the emotive resonance of the surrounding landscapes. Her abstracted recollections reflect her extensive travels through the Menindee Lakes in Kinchega National Park and long drive through the desert from Mildura and Adelaide.

Undoubtably, the notion of time is posited through multiple lenses within this body of work through subtle nuances of colour, incongruous structures and abstracted forms. These elements provide a framework that reflect Payne’s ongoing exploration of the land’s essence and its relationship to time within an historical, colonial, and archaeological context. She suggests that her practice is “to listen to and observe the land to sense the echoes of deep time that exist in open spaces and littoral zones and consider the notion that land is deeply rooted in time and archaeological and human history”. The artists deep engagement with observing and listening to the landscape fosters a mood of melancholy, rooted in her awareness of Australia’s colonial history and her reverence for the natural world.

This disruptive colonial presence is most evident in Shaft and Remnant, where abandoned power lines serve as stark reminders of human intervention and traces of a colonial past that continue to linger in the landscapes of Wilyakali Country. Payne’s depiction of these structures is perhaps suggestive of the indelible nature of history, while also providing us, the viewers, with an opportunity to contemplate our place within it.

Using multiple layering techniques, washes, and colour, the surfaces of the paintings emphasise light, movement, and mood, shifting and hovering. Shifting Sands 1 and Shifting Sands 2 reflect the quiet, contemplative and fleeting moments of dusk and dawn, drawing on philosophical themes such as time, transience, and the human condition. Or perhaps dusk and dawn are suggestive of the boundary between light and darkness and dualities such as the impermanence of existence or ephemeral beauty.

Explorations of time reemerge in Time Trace and On the Road, where landscapes are viewed through the window of a moving car. The asymmetrical, gestural, and horizontal brushstrokes merge into a blurred haze, conveying the immediacy of both witnessing and losing a moment in motion. These works explore the fleeting nature of time and perception that emphasise the urgency of our rapidly shifting environment and the heightened anxiety that arises from our inability to fully grasp the changes unfolding around us.