Annabel Nowlan
- RECENT WORKS
-
Vanishing Point
Making Space
Panel Works
Unfinished Maps
- EARLY WORKS
Mixed Media
Painting
Metals
Sculpture
Annabel Nowlan
About
RECENT WORKS
Unfinished Maps Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery
Unfinished Maps at Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery is an exhibition of selected works using a variety of found and repurposed material and delves deep into the Australian landscape, exposing forgotten histories, human error, and focusing on the endless bounty of everyday aesthetic nuances.
These travellers developed a secret code language, in the form of signs and symbols, to surreptitiously communicate vital information to fellow peripatetic drifters looking for work and a safe place to camp. The markings were etched and scratched onto buildings and posts; others were as subtle and ephemeral as a rock placed on a fence post.
These coded markings communicated important knowledge about the lie-of-the-land to otherwise largely isolated fellow travellers. Most of the signs conveyed essential information pertaining to danger, food and the law. Others were quirky and humorous: barking dog, alcohol in this town, religious talk = food.
There is evidence these covert communications are still used by itinerants internationally: by the Romani of Europe to the ‘hobos’ of America and the swaggie, wanderers and homeless of Australia.