The Aboriginal community of Pormpuraaw is located in northwestern Queensland, on the Cape York Peninsula, on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The climate is typical of tropical savannas: intense heat throughout the year and an annual monsoon season with torrential rains that cause the surrounding rivers to rise and transform Pormpuraaw into an island, cut off from the rest of the world for several months.

The lack of infrastructure, combined with the remoteness of large cities, has allowed the region's inhabitants to preserve their traditions and continue to practice their ancestral religious ceremonies. The sanctification of nature and wildlife is part of the daily life of these animist peoples, so the representation of marine species became a natural choice for the artists of Pormpuraaw when it came to disposing of the ghost nets that wash up on the coast.

    With this work, Christine illustrates a local belief. On her people's land grows a tree that no one is allowed to cut down. If a piece of it is cut off despite this, the sea becomes infested with jellyfish, making fishing impossible.

Visit our dedicated page on the art of Ghostnets.