This paper is an examination of the relationship of Australian landscape imagery to culture and identity. Visual and historical ideas in the Heidelberg School and more contemporary landscape work is assessed in relation to social history in the work of Ian Burn et al and the social history in the work of Anne Maree Willis. These two types of history are compared and conclusions are made about their similarities and differences in the articulation of identity and culture. It will be concluded that identity and culture are ideas and values which are recycled and relocated with the passage of time and that certain central themes reoccur in the construction of identity and culture / Master of Visual Arts (Hons)

I investigate the lived experience, the actuality of responding to land as a painter. This thesis consists of intensive investigations in the field and further exploration in the studio, resulting in a body of paintings and drawings which form the exhibition. The exegesis explores theories and ideas surrounding the work. The psychological engagement between people, land and art is of major concern. The choice of place selected to paint and the subject matter of rocks is discussed. Painters who work outside or have painted at the same site are considered for comparison with my working methods or concerns. The selective view is intimate. The format of the image and the composition are discussed in terms of proximity and space. Consideration of the psychology of engagement with land and landscape painting, either as an observer or painter, is a major component of the research. This examination of human psychological development illuminates the origin of our sense of self and how we relate to the land on which we live. The premise of this enquiry is the idea that art and culture could reflect human psychological development. Do art objects contribute to cultural understanding of the relationship of person to environment? A phenomenological perspective is incorporated in this exploration of the interrelation of vision, perception and attention. Can the reality of experience be transferred into the art work? The deep attention to the landscape of Australian Aboriginal people serves as a cultural reference for these investigations. This study concludes that sentient consciousness involving responsibility for land is an open, effective way of perceiving and depicting landscape. Responsibility for land can be encouraged by the development of cultural ideas based around landscape and can be the result of feeling connected to land. Art can contribute to changes in attitudes to land.

The aim of this project was to build and render digital landscape models that reflect natural element characteristics and use the resulting data sets as source material for fine art investigation and production. The project utilized 3D computer modeling techniques, selected output technology and studio facilities. Computer-generated virtual landscapes material was incorporated into studio practice by providing observed environmental content for the development of works for exhibition. An accompanying exegesis explored the relationship and tensions between digital landscape data sets and the broader use of landscape as a motif within an Australian context.

Thesis (M.Visual Arts) -- La Trobe University, 2006. / Research. "An exegesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Visual Arts by Research, School of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora". Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-92). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Master of Visual Arts / The Elephant and the Journey is about what and how people see in the land and how this is expressed through art forms. The dissertation consists of three main parts. The first in the introduction explains the use of the narrative figuration form in Thai temple mural painting in my practice, and how I used it to apply to the contemporary context in Australia. The second concerns three main groups of work including Australian landscape paintings in the nineteenth century, aboriginal art works and Thai mural painting, which apply to the topic of landscape. The second part in Chapters I and II, examine how significant the perspective view in the landscape was for artists during the colonial period in Australia. At the same time I consult the practice in Aboriginal art which also concerns land, and how people communicate through the subject and how both practices apply to Thai art, with which I am dealing. Chapter III looks at works of individual artists in contemporary Australia including Tim Johnson, Judy Watson, Kathleen Petyarre Emily Kngwerreye, and then finishes with my studio work during 2004-2005. The third part, the conclusion refers to the notions of cultural geography as suggested by Mike Crang, Edward Relph and Christopher Tilley, which analyse how people relate to a location through their own experience. I describe how I used a Thai narrative verse written by my father to communicate my work to the Australian society in which I now live.

Master of Visual Arts / The Elephant and the Journey is about what and how people see in the land and how this is expressed through art forms. The dissertation consists of three main parts. The first in the introduction explains the use of the narrative figuration form in Thai temple mural painting in my practice, and how I used it to apply to the contemporary context in Australia. The second concerns three main groups of work including Australian landscape paintings in the nineteenth century, aboriginal art works and Thai mural painting, which apply to the topic of landscape. The second part in Chapters I and II, examine how significant the perspective view in the landscape was for artists during the colonial period in Australia. At the same time I consult the practice in Aboriginal art which also concerns land, and how people communicate through the subject and how both practices apply to Thai art, with which I am dealing. Chapter III looks at works of individual artists in contemporary Australia including Tim Johnson, Judy Watson, Kathleen Petyarre Emily Kngwerreye, and then finishes with my studio work during 2004-2005. The third part, the conclusion refers to the notions of cultural geography as suggested by Mike Crang, Edward Relph and Christopher Tilley, which analyse how people relate to a location through their own experience. I describe how I used a Thai narrative verse written by my father to communicate my work to the Australian society in which I now live.