From an untouched landscape exhibition

The Forge of a Nation
Aidan Hartshorn
It was inevitable, from when the first
British footprints impacted the sands on
Gadigal Country in Warrang/Sydney, the
colonial regime would have devastating
effects on anything it encountered. From
1770, for Aboriginal people across the now
named continent “Australia”, there would
be a continuing destructive reign resulting
in the generational loss, devastation and
erasure of people, place and Culture.
These and other systematic incursions
are continual forms of the colonial regime
imposed over Aboriginal land and people;
and for James Tylor, a key component of
his series ‘From an Untouched Landscape’.
With his Aboriginal, Māori and European
heritage, Tylor draws on his and his
Community experiences - where the edges
of his identity meet, and where they are
interrupted by colonial intervention.
This multi-faceted series serve as a
photographic self-portrait for Tylor, while
also highlighting the missing or removed
elements of people and culture from within
the landscapes. Hauntingly these captured
moments provide a point of connection
for other Aboriginal people who identify
with the disrupted imagery and historical
premise behind the series. From the onset
of colonial contact, Aboriginal culture,
identity, and people within colonist texts
and imagery were either consciously or
subconsciously removed, whilst in parallel
the erasure was unfolding in reality. This
perpetuated censorship of Aboriginal
people and culture ultimately erased the
Indigenous presence from, what was then,
a fledgling nation.
‘From an Untouched Landscape’ provides
an Aboriginal perspective and a counter
narrative to colonial representations of
Aboriginal people and culture that are
still being consumed, unchallenged and
reinforced by local and global audiences
today. Narratives that suggest and only reiterate
the colonial perception of Australia
as an ‘untouched’ ‘wilderness’ ‘discovered’
by James Cook(ed), ‘underutilised’ by its
First Peoples.
While drawing on these perpetuated
narratives, Tylor’s dark and contrasting
geometric shapes, replace specific areas
in the landscape, evoking the concept of
loss and censorship of Aboriginal people
in colonial narratives. By obstructing and
Opposite: Removed Scenes From an Untouched
Landscape 6 (detail), 2018, inkjet print on hahnemuhle
paper with hole removed to a black velvet void , 50x50cm
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