Mo Ganji: Mitchell’s Water Monitor | Mitchell-Waran | Varanus mitchelli | No. 133/250 from work group 8/99

Mitchell’s Water Monitor | Mitchell-Waran | Varanus mitchelli

Mo Ganji’s single line engages the Mitchell’s water monitor — a semi-aquatic lizard inhabiting freshwater wetlands, rivers and floodplains of northern Australia — by letting its essential coherence come forward without emphasis on strength, movement or predatory role. The continuous line gathers a concentrated core of presence, enough to suggest a living being while remaining open to meanings beyond the category of “monitor lizard.” In this distillation of the core, form appears before function or behavior frames it.

Varanus mitchelli is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. The species is relatively widespread across northern Australia and occupies a range of freshwater habitats, including billabongs, swamps and slow-moving rivers. Its ability to use both aquatic and terrestrial environments contributes to its current stability.

Localized pressures include wetland degradation, water extraction, pollution and changes to flood regimes, as well as increasing disturbance in some parts of its range. While these factors have not yet caused significant population declines at a global scale, the species remains dependent on intact freshwater systems and seasonal connectivity.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the monitor can be encountered beyond agility or dominance. It invites attention to a presence shaped by water and patience, quietly reminding us that even species deemed secure are bound to fragile hydrological rhythms, and that recognizing ourselves as part of those rhythms is inseparable from sustaining the living systems they support.