Anna Louise Richardson

Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2023 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist]}

Anna Louise Richardson | What am I gathering (crow) | 2022 | charcoal on cement fibreboard | 132 x 90cm

Artist Statement

Richardson’s practice centres around drawing, rendering realistic scenes that speak strongly to her experience of rural life within a multigenerational farming family. Her works explore parenthood, familial relationships, intergenerational exchange, settler identities, relationships to place and regionally specific mythologies. The driving themes of her practice are the complex relationships between humans and the natural world, often exploring life and death, with animals employed as protagonists of her stories. In the years following her mother’s devastating death in 2020, Richardson was visited by birds, which she felt were visitations from her mother. She kept notes and drew these birds of prey, at a large scale, their eyes turned to look at the viewer, creating the preternatural sensation of being watched. What am I gathering (crow) is a reminder of the connection she felt to her mother and the possibilities of connecting via animals to those who are no longer here.