THE COBALT PROJECT, WILYAKALI COUNTRY by JO MELLOR

Size (cm): 77 x 77
TEXTILE

This artwork comprises a digitally printed linen textile derived from a photograph of rusted mining detritus at Broken Hill Cobalt Project on Wilyakali Country. The rust, is reconfigured into a repeated pattern, shifting its scale and meaning from site-specific residue to an abstracted visual field. Through digital transfer onto linen, material traces of extraction are embedded within the textile surface, foregrounding the ongoing impact of mining on Country.

The work is further developed through hand embroidery using cotton thread, wool, and glass beads, introducing a slow, tactile process that contrasts with the rapid, extractive nature of industrial practices. Stitching becomes a method of attentive engagement, responding to the disrupted landscape through acts of care and repetition. The interplay between digital and hand processes reflects a tension between industrial intervention and embodied repair, positioning the textile as both a record of environmental impact and a site of material and conceptual transformation.