Burning Beginning

'Southern Cross - To Bear and Behold - Burning'

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to educate and show others my appreciation for the above photograph of performance artist Jill Orr. None of the images on this blog are mine unless otherwise stated and I have not been endorsed or told what to share by anyone.

 

This image is titled 'Burning' which is from the 2007 'Southern Cross to bear and behold' series, created by the artist Jill Orr and photographer Naomi Herzog. It is an inkjet print which measures 65.5cm by 134.9 cm. It was taken on the Mitre Lake in Wimmera, Victoria and was purchased by the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists in 2010.

Mitre Lake and Mitre Rock by Duncan Yoyos

As stated by Jill Orr’s ‘Southern Cross – To Bear and Behold’ series page, the Mitre lake is home to the remaining Djurid Balug people of the Wotjobaluk Tribe and is situated near the Mitre Rock which is a part of Mount Arapiles in Western Victoria. In the eyes of the artist, the lake is said to have a “sulphuric and luminous” consistency. It works as a reminder of the numerous others dried up salt lakes, which may have been caused by mining, erosion and or drought. The Mitre Lake is said to temporarily reveal imprints when there’s contact with its surface by creating a black matter. The momentarily harsh surface served as a contrast between the immediate fragile white lake with the murky underbelly. Perhaps the lake becomes the backdrop as the artist attempts to juxtapose people’s glazed view of the state of our environment against the harsh undeniable truth.