This work is part of Karlien van Rooyen’s 2024 exhibition, Anamist.

Says Karlien of this work, “Ode to the giant Australian centipede, Ethmostigmus rubripes. This beauty bit me on my forehead three times whilst sleeping under a gubbinge tree on Goolarabooloo Country. I had previously shared the canopy of ‘starlight-shade’ with two friends, but this night I was alone.

“Unbeknownst to me, there was a young men’s-business tree growing inside the canopy too. An elder informed me the next morning of my visitor’s sharp message to get out of there. I don’t know why I took the dagger for the two boys as well, but three blows to my frontal cortex was the most searing wake-up call I’ve had in my life. I initially thought I dreamt the first bite (because who expects a dagger in your brain in the middle of the wilderness), but by the third I shot for my torch and found the centipede raised on its hinds like a cobra in front of my face. This venomous arthropod transmits its poison via modified legs, known as foripules, that curve around the head like fangs. It was a sobering sight, and I never slept under that Gubbinge without my chaperones again.”