Dew Shadows

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who creates fleeting prints of his body as he lies on the ground in the rain. His Rain Prints have a fleeting, ephemeral feeling, steeped in the context of place, and with a personal bond to materiality. Here is a picture of one of his beautiful works:

Last week I woke to a beautiful dewy daybreak and I roamed the farm, taking photos of Dew Shadows. I had hoped my body's mark would be left if I lay on the ground. Albeit damp, I enjoyed the feeling of oneness and peace that Goldsworthy describes in the way that he produces his art.

The body marks made by my lying on the ground in the dew didn't work, but I enjoyed experimenting with taking photos of my shadow 'print' over the dewy landscape, in the hazy new light of the day. It was a funny feeling TRYING to get my shadow in the frame, because traditionally one would avoid this look!

It seemed to give an interesting overlay to my feelings of this family farm where I am staying over the COVID 19 crisis. I was raised on this farm, and am returning to live here for a while, 20 years later. The memories, freedoms, tensions and layers of this place in relationship to childhood were able to be realised with these photos.

I am also interested in the back story of the original Aboriginal people, who must have roamed this land, and how it was taken for farming purposes. Their stories are shadows over this landscape also.