ABSTRACT
Representations of the Australian national landscape are as diverse as the continent is broad. From Impressionism to abstraction, artists have responded to the dense rainforest and bleached shorelines creating images that have contributed to a national sense of belonging. Despite most Australians living in coastal cities, it is the open plain and desert that has arguably become the most iconic depiction of the land. This chapter considers the historical underpinnings of contemporary works by Tom Nicholson, Hiraki Sawa, and William Yang, which imbue this ancient island with personal and national expressions of melancholia.
