WAC119/25 – Cecil Mosquito

– 90 x 90 cm

In this artwork, Cecil Mosquito captures the stunning landscape of his grandfather’s country, Turner (Flora Valley Station), highlighting the special places within it and the journey taken to reach them.

The scene depicts a place known to the artist as Soda Springs, located near Turner. This is a significant, continuously flowing spring that feeds smaller streams across the land, creating a network of waterways that run throughout the country.

The main spring appears in the centre of the canvas, painted in bright yellow ochre and white tones. Surrounding it are bold red and pink pigments that represent the rocks (in pink) and the limestone formations (depicted as circular red ochre figures).

As Cecil explains, the journey to Turner begins at the bottom right-hand corner of the painting: “To get to Turner, you have to travel across through here—limestone area—before crossing over to Soda Springs, until finally reaching your destination.” The painting is composed from a bird’s-eye view, looking down on the land, Cecil explains that once you cross over and keep going toward Turner the landscape changes—hills begin to rise in the distance, marking the approach to Turner. “That’s how we used to know we were getting close,” Cecil recalls.

Through this artwork, Cecil expresses his deep knowledge of and connection to his ancestral country—a connection he began to explore through painting only last year as a new and emerging artist.