When I think of rockpools I often reflect on the otherworldly dwellings in the shallows that emerge only as the waves roll out to sea and the tide is low. On entering Yindjibarndi artist, Katie West’s exhibition at Westspace, ‘Rockpools’, I was welcomed with the comforting and familiar sound of water and waves, nostalgic of summer afternoons on the coast. On further inspection, the sounds of water were transmitted through radios with antennas drawn, placed structurally on metal beams and grates, representing West’s own interpretation of a rockpool. Sparked with curiosity I wanted to understand how such a manmade structure could be reflective of a naturally created rockpool, especially, when I had such a literal representation in my own mind. West challenges this expected visual, reflecting the ‘detritus of colonisation’ with scavenged objects from tip shops in Karratha on Ngarluma Ngurra (Country) and in Noongar Ballardong Boodja (Country) to build her own rockpools.

Twelve months is a long time to work on any artwork, especially when it involves Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) and Mitch Mahoney (Boonwurrung/ Barkindji) working alongside twelve weavers from the Australian Tapestry Workshop to meticulously bring an incredible, collaborative tapestry to life. Welcome to Country: now you see me: seeing the invisible is a commissioned work for the new Footscray Hospital. It will take a elliptical form, hung between two floors of the hospital when it opens in late 2025.