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The Cord to Alcheringa was the first of four major series inspired by Aboriginal ritual and legend. It was followed by The Chant for Kurdaitcha (1954), Love Magic (1954) and The Legend of the Black Swan (1956). All four series reflect an affinity with an Aboriginal view of the world that is incorporated within Elizabeth Durack's own perceptions and distinctive style. The paintings stem partly from personal experience of ceremonies, from familiarity with ancient masterpieces on rock faces in northern Australia, and from lessons learnt from Jubul, a bark painter from Arnhem Land. The artist’s notes, (to UWA Vice-Chancellor Stanley Prescott in January 1954), elucidate certain aspects of the paintings while acknowledging that much within them cannot be explained: ' ... without wishing to indulge in fantasy I can frankly say I am not quite sure where this particular crop of work came from. I know that while I worked on it I was in a peculiar state of being possessed — this particular expression called for this particular treatment ... the fact is, whatever I have captured of the tenuous 'Cord to Alcheringa ...' could only be translated by a reversion to the first available medium [ochre] and by a re-orientation to the primary arrangements of composition and formal construction ...' The Cord to Alcheringa, together with the three comparable series, expresses a rare intuitive fusion of two worlds.

The Cord to Alcheringa
1953
earth pigments on board
88 x 112 cm
University of Western Australia Art Collection
no 5 of the sequence
With heads linked by a Cord and joined to the totem pole, three participants sway in ritual movement, their bodies patterned to accord with the symbolic patterning on the ground. Along the Cord during the ceremony will travel the Spirit Father of the Kangaroo. The foreground figure wears magic shoes — their imprint cannot be read.