Grains of Land
Marian Alphonso
Master of ArchitectureDeakin University
“Home is a fabric ”woven from land, memory, and belonging” holding the stories of past and present, nurturing life in its embrace."
MATERIALS: clay + native wallaby grass straw + pine needles
Artist Statement
In Mumbai, I spent hours sitting on the concrete tetrapods, watching the sea, where the boundary between land and water felt fluid much like the idea of home, ever-evolving and accommodating.Grains of Land takes shape through gathering and weaving, inspired by Kathirkula, a ritualistic artifact woven from rice stalks after harvest. Using pine needles and wallaby grass, this piece embodies gratitude, change, and renewal, while terracotta beads representing grains from the land ground the work in cycles of sustenance.
Much like the traditions of Wadawurrung land, where I now live, the practices shift with the seasons, whether through migration inland or crafting buniya beenyak. Through materials and making, my ritual finds continuity in this landscape, carrying forward an enduring reverence for the land and its cycles.
Synopsis
The process of making Living Belonging began with my hands in the landscape gathering pine needles along the Barwon River, I felt an intuitive connection to place. As I collected the tufts, I noticed the delicate interplay between the land and its inhabitants. The sharp yet interwoven strands reminded me of how nature binds us, shaping both memory and belonging. At Westgate biodiversity, harvesting wallaby grass became a meditative act each fiber carefully chosen, anchored me in the process.
At the entrance of my home hangs a Kathirkula a symbol of fortune and gratitude gifted to me by my mentor, Ar. Vinod Kumar. Made from woven stalks from the paddy fields after harvest, it reminds me of communities honouring the land and its changing seasons. Inspired by this, I contoured my own version using paper wire and straw, shaping it into a form that echoed the morphology of the Kathirkula.
The act of bending and twisting materials became an intuitive search for balance something that stands for both resilience and flexibility.The hand-molded terracotta beads represent grains from the land, rooting the work in cycles of sustenance, while the loose raffia threads at the top and bottom pay homage to the grasslands. In making this piece, I engage in an ongoing tradition acknowledging the land, its history, and the cultural practices that honour its cycles of renewal. Like First Nations communities who pass down knowledge through craft, song, and storytelling, my work, Grains of Land, stands as a humble tribute to the resilience of cultural memory and the continuity of home an assemblage of materials, experiences, and traditions woven into a quiet document of belonging.
