There is that interesting thing that Haughton Forrest was imagining the landscapes. They are so dramatic. They are dark, big, gloomy paintings and he was making them during some of the most ominous massacres in Tasmania. Forrest was recording history but missing the human story.
I wanted to make a massive work so as soon as Nick Mitzevich invited me I said yes straight away and began to make the work. The island was made in direct response. I used the diagnostic tool of Rorschach blots - something designed to extract and evaluate the dark and unconscious elements of our personality.
I'd never seen [Haughton] Forrest's work before until I came across it on the front of an ANZ book. I then researched a whole lot of his work.
