Joan Ross is a finalist in the 2024 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW with her work Who said possession was 9/10ths of the law.
In Joan Ross’s imagined Australian landscape, a colonial woman in 18th-century dress graffities a rock face with the word ‘MINE’. With its title quoting the commonly used expression ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law’, Ross’s painting refers to British colonial possession of an already inhabited land.
Ross references the watercolours of colonial painter Joseph Lycett in this landscape, which is further transformed by hi-vis yellow and neon pink – synthetic colours that command attention, especially when applied to the natural world. ‘There is a greed about colonising someone else’s land, an agreed greed that continues today and a lack of sensitivity to the original inhabitants of this land and the land itself,’ says Ross.
‘Whenever I am in the bush I see signs of humans making their mark on nature. I see graffiti tags on rocks, I see love and hate, political messages, personal tags, swear words, initials and love hearts. There is a disconnection with nature and a self-centeredness that defies care.’
Winner of the Sulman Prize in 2017, Ross is a two-time Wynne Prize finalist. A portrait of her by Anna Mould is in the 2024 Archibald Prize.
Joan Ross
Who said possession was 9/10ths of the law, 2024
watercolour and acrylic on paper
76 x 157 cm
