Mt Arapiles (Dyuritte), ‘India’

180 x 180 x 16cm
Acrylic on Plywood
Climbing is an exploration of both presence and absence, routes are not defined by what is there, but by what is missing. Blank spaces force movement, while rough textures and features forge moments of stillness. Each ascent is ephemeral, leaving behind only traces: chalk dust, worn rubber, and the memory of contact with the rock face. These remnants reflect the tension between what is achieved and what remains beyond reach.
 
At Mt Arapiles (Dyurrite), this relationship between body and rock becomes even more pronounced. Sandstone walls, intricate cracks, a delicate balance between exposure and security. Rock walls formed hundreds of millions of years ago are both unforgiving and inviting, offering climbers a canvas of absence, vast negative spaces, where voids demand creative movement and problem solving. The routes are not just physical challenges but meditative engagements with the landscape, where the climber must listen to the rock and respond to it.
 
My work captures this ongoing dialogue, framing a moment of suspended motion, where the climber exists between presence and absence, touch and release, ascent and the infinite space below. In translating my experience of Mt Arapiles (Dyurrite) into visual form, I aim to convey the way this landscape shapes movement, memory, and the deeply personal experience of navigating absence.