Ray Monde

In August this year, Ray Monde completed an artist’s residency at Bundanon, the Illaroo NSW property that was once home to Arthur Boyd. His new collection of ghostworked collages on canvas that make up THE RIVER BETWEEN US was created during this time.

Travelling from his home in Braidwood, where the Shoalhaven River winds its way toward the coast, Ray arrives at the eastern end of his beloved river that stretches 350kms. He instantly knew his original proposal to the Bundanon Trust outlining the works he intended to create, was no longer what his head, heart and hand was intending.

‘As I’m settling in, Meghan from the Bundanon Trust says to me, “You’re free to do whatever you like while you’re here. Some artists, once they’re here, are overwhelmed by a desire to so something entirely different from their proposal, others are frightened by the isolation and others just use the time to think.“ I unpack my gear into the studio with its polished wooden floors and head down to the river in the fading light.

Down by the Shoalhaven River, on the small sandy beach, the water is dark and deep. It’s perfectly still, the waters reflect the rocks and cliffs and impossibly tall white trunks of the eucalypts. It feels like the world has flipped into an uncanny Rorschacht.’