Robert Andrew

Robert Andrew is a descendant of the Yawuru people. His work speaks to the past yet articulates a contemporary relationship to his Country. Andrew’s work often combines programmable machinery with earth pigments, ochres, rocks, and soil to mine historical and cultural events buried by the dominant paradigms of western culture.

To connect with his Yawuru ancestral land near Broome, Robert Andrew makes use of a variety of digital technologies. In new eyes – old Country – Nagula, the white walls of the gallery are transformed over the duration of the exhibition by the artist’s kinetic drawing machine, as it drags charcoal across the length of the wall. The myth of the white cube as a space free from external forces is unravelled by Andrew’s machine as it reinstates the contours of Country.

The charcoal is tied behind a monitor that is screening drone footage of the edge of Yawuru coastline, along the road the word NAGULA (saltwater, Yawuru language) is repeatedly visible in the pidan. With the red soil drying, the word disappears, only to reappear further along the dirt road. In new eyes – old Country – Nagula, Andrew reanimates the endangered Yawuru language while also conveying its fragility.