Billy Bain

In Dyarubbin (The River), Billy Bain considers the Hawkesbury River as both a physical landscape and a place of cultural memory. The river becomes a connecting thread through the series, tracing the journey Bain undertook with his father and reflecting the movement of the long-finned river eel between saltwater and freshwater.

Drawing on the visual traditions of colonial landscape painting, Bain reimagines the river through a Dharug perspective. The absence of human figures shifts attention towards the enduring presence of Country, while the hand-built ceramic elements introduce a sculptural language that brings the surrounding flora, fauna, and histories into the work. Rather than capturing a single moment, the painting suggests a landscape existing across deep time, where past and present converge, and Country continues beyond human presence.