Week 9

Desert Country

In this exhibition there were 95 different artists showing 100 works; some on canvas with acrilic and others in the natural ochre. This exhibition shows many artists all from the desert regions of Australia, through this we can learn culture differences many groups have, including; language, rituals and ceremonies. These paintings are a translation of the Dreaming stories, which have been passed down over many generations and thousands of years.

Some of the Artists include;

Papunya Tula

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri --> With his painting of Honey Ant Ceremony.
Link; http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/agsa/home/Learning/docs/DesertCountryResource.pdf

He uses bright and bold colours, with strong, gestural lines intergrating patterens into one another, which creates an amazing effect, your eyes don't know where to look!

Utopia

Angelina Pwerle --> She has beautifully created a layering effect in Bush Plum, with deep pinks as an under-coat layer, then coming back in with a fine white and painting dots, using a bamboo skewer, and concentrated in particulr sections to build up the white. She is seen to create more the abstract works.

Warmun Art, East Kimberley

Mabel Juli --> Moon Dreaming; Mabel uses all natural ochres, which are made into powder, then mixed with glue to create paint. She has painted on 6 layers of this black ochre, to create this satin texture, then dotted onto the black to create a moon.

Ngaanyatjarra Western Desert Mob

Tommy Mitchell --> Walu Tjukurrpa, uses a complex series of colours to create many layers of dotting; Walu suggest this wind."

"This painting tells of two uncles and their young nephew who camp at Walu rockhole, a site on the Wati Kutjarra (Two Men) Dreaming route. While the uncles were out hunting, the boy would sneak into the Owl people’s camps and steal their meat. The Owl people complained to the uncles, but the boy denied his crime. The uncles then became angry with the Owl people and a big tornado swept them away. The men again went

hunting and returned with an emu. They were cutting it up for dinner when the greedy boy pulled out its heart and ran away, dripping blood. The blood is still visible today on stained rocks. One uncle, a powerful magic man, conjured a giant willy-willy and turned the boy into wind.