pamela kouwenhoven
landscapes 







 

      
Kouwenhoven was brought
      up on a farm in the dry west coast region of South Australia.
      Like many rural communities where water is precious, the corrugated
      iron rainwater tank was a ubiquitous feature of the landscape.
      In order to protect the tanks from rust, a waterproof membrane
      ­ malthoid ­ was often placed between the bottom of the
      tank and the base [often the earth]. Hidden from sight, and pressed
      over decades by weight and weather into exquisite and complex
      patterns, the malthoid developed a patina that told its own hidden
      story. Sadly, this story - this 'writing' - was usually dumped,
      along with the tank, when it had passed its use-by date. With
      her eye for the unusual, prowling the rubbish tips of ancient
      farms, Kouwenhoven saw potential in these ugly and discarded
      relics. Rearranged with the artist's sensitivity and presented
      in standard picture frames, they became both landscapes and metaphors
      for a parched land.

      
From a catalogue essay
      by Ian Hamilton, for "Intersect" - Gallery 25, Mildura,
      September 2003



ARTIST
      STATEMENT

       

      A chance encounter some years ago with old malthoid from the
      bottom of discarded water tanks, sparked a profound excitement
      in me. Visually the malthoid had taken on the appearance of the
      land, displaying exquisite and complex patterning and holding
      the memory of the earth against which it lay, hidden and pressed
      over decades by great weight of water. This was a catalyst in
      that it evoked the memory of, and a nostalgic longing for, my
      'fathers land'. This being marginal land which had been cleared
      by my grandfather in the 1920's for farming; worked by him, and
      then by my father in turn. Theirs was a long and intimate connection
      to those thousands of acres of dry land. Their experiences ultimately
      became the 'dreaming' story absorbed by me and imbedded in my
      memory as a child.

       

      Through the malthoid series of work I am re-examining my memory
      of deeply felt connection to land and what it means to me.