High Tea and Yellow Cake is an installation that aims to shift the viewer’s perspective on the relationship between humans and the earth beneath us. Through my time with Arabunna elder Kevin Buzzacott, I learnt about the deep connection between his Indigenous culture and the landscape they inhabit. In Arabunna mythology, a great spirit lizard with a poisonous yellow belly rests within the earth, and disrupting it could have catastrophic consequences.

This installation was born out of my experience at a blockade against the expansion of the Olympic Dam mine, which sits on the largest known deposit of uranium in the world. The mine was being considered for expansion into an area rich in uranium, known as “yellow cake”, and the design of the tailings waste dams posed a significant risk to the local aquifer. I became aware of the delicate balance between the earth and its inhabitants, and the protective landmarks lost during the history of the open pit mine.

The vessels in my installation serve as an epitaph to these lost landmarks, merging the iconography of the domestic sphere with emblems of the wilderness. Through them, I offer the viewer an X-ray vantage point of the invisible spaces that connect us to the earth beneath our feet. We may only see the fertile valleys and sweet springs on the surface, but the interconnections in the earth's mantle that maintain their integrity stretch far beyond what the western eye is trained to see. Through High Tea and Yellow Cake, I hope to highlight the importance of recognizing and respecting the deep connection between humans and the earth, and the potential consequences of disrupting that delicate balance.

- Kevin Buzzacott (Arabunna elder)

- Olympic Dam mine in Outback Australia

- Lizards Revenge Protest