The Berowra years: 1932-1939

In Berowra Preston concentrated on images of the Australian wildflowers brought in from the bush and her practice became largely seasonal, following the flowering of plants. Stylistically, the 1930s proved to be Margaret Preston’s most eclectic decade. Her work evolved in a start-stop fashion, sometimes going over old ground, sometimes treading new. Close to her property Preston began to explore the monuments of generations of Aboriginal occupation in the Hawkesbury region. Beyond the man-made modernity that inspired her earlier work, she found an ancient Aboriginal land she wanted to express.