Artist reinterprets a famous Australian gold hunter's death

Artist Nora Abbott uses animation and painting to retell the story of Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter in Central Australia.

Abbott, a Pitjantjatjara and Western Arrernte woman, creates scenes based on family histories she learned from her grandfather. Her work focuses on the 1930 journey of Lasseter, who traveled into the desert to find a gold reef.

While many stories about Lasseter's death in the bush are part of settler folklore, Abbott centers the narrative on the An̲angu, the Aboriginal people of the region. The animation depicts how the An̲angu initially felt terror toward the stranger but eventually chose to help him. The work shifts the perspective from a standard gold-hunting tale to a story about an outsider who lost his way.

Abbott uses her colorful paintings to show the interaction between the local community and the man searching for minerals.