Shirley Macnamara runs a thriving cattle property in remote central Queensland, close to her ancestral Country. While gathering natural materials and considering traditional forms and methods, Shirley Macnamara also draws from her interactions with her the local landscape near the city of Mt Isa, one of the most productive mineral mining sites in Australia. In Cu (the scientific symbol for copper), Macnamara collaborated with her grandson to create an object that evokes the scars of copper mining on the terrain. Coils of copper wire reference abandoned mining pits, while the raw copper shapes atop the vessel represent snappy gum trees.