Wild ‘n’ West draws from Lori Pensini’s lived experience growing up on the land in the wheatbelt of Western Australia and Hamersley Range, Pilbara. They are fragments of memories drawn from her encounters with unique wildlife and emphasise her biophilic nature to connect with nature and other forms of life.
“As a young child I believed the landscape and living things had their own language and could communicate with each other, sharing ancient knowledge through their intricate symbiotic relationships. I felt a keening to identify with that world more than my own. To me my language was clumsy and singular, speaking only to its kind. To understand more I watched and role-played, developing detailed observations of animal behaviour in their natural environment. In time this ‘meaning-making’ and compassion for other sentients merged with my art practise and began a life long odyssey exploring an Arcadian narrative and coded visual language unique to my own self portrayal.” - Lori Pensini 2024
