A Galaxy Swirl Analysis

Aboriginal art has many inspiring aspects such as the link that it has to the past of Aboriginal people, kinship the dreaming, land and reconciliation. Charlie Colbung is the artist behind a large beautiful acrylic painting exhibited in the Plantagenet community resource centre, in Mount Barker Western Australia. Colbung’s painting is called ‘Past to Present’ and represents the journey to reconciliation of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Full of depth, texture, colour and numerous artistic elements to entice audiences to engage and analyse his lovely art work as well as critically reflect on the art and the meaning behind the painting. Charlie Colbungs painting Past to Present is a beautiful example of Aboriginal art work.

Contemporary Indigenous Art in Australia is a fundamental core into the exploration into contemporary visual culture, and that of historical reflection and tradition. Art and decoration acts as an integral part of the traditional indigenous lifestyle1, such tradition repressed through the centuries of destructive oppression, that continued through to the late 20th century, reinforced by an education system and society dominated by a history built on the belief in Australia as terra nullius. Such narratives and visual representations of history present the colonisers as powerful figures of exploration, and colonisation- the bearers of learning and civilisation in a land of ‘primitive’, failing to acknowledge the sovereign rights of Australia’s Indigenous people.

The artist’s job is to be a witness to their time and location in history. They record and reflect on events and themes that have occurred in their personal life and society around them. Gordon Bennett creates artworks exploring Australian colonialism and the impact it has had on Aboriginal History. Bennett’s work bares witness to the disregard for Aboriginal people in history, in his time and today. Bennet grew up unaware of his indigenous heritage.

As curator I wish to recommend the inclusion of artworks by Danie Mellor and Cia Guo-Qiang for the upcoming exhibition “Utopian Australia – the Lucky Country?”.

An example of this “revolutionary conceptualism” (Ferell, 2012) is observed in Figure 2, a piece of artwork called “The Elders of the Tribe”, by Elizabeth Durack (1953). Overall, the image depicts the elders of a Warlpiri kinship group sitting around a distinctive ground pattern, representing their ancestral origin in Central Australia (Durack, 2015). The wavy and distinctive insignia convey the elders being “swept away by the wind” (Durack, 2015), in addition to the concentric circles, connoting to various spiritual events that occurred at various campsites within the Warlpiri community. Moreover, Durack (2015) further explains that the artwork represented a “conversion from red and white ochre to acrylic medium”, supporting the artistic transition from traditional Aboriginal ground art to Western-inspired acrylic paintings.

Australia’s Aboriginal Peoples form the longest living culture in the world, they have experienced massive conflicts and suffered many losses. Tjukurpa Kunpa, means ‘Strong Law & Culture,’ and forms part of a collection of paintings that concentrate on political and cultural issues that have resulted from colonisation. The painting outlines the shape of Australia and is decorated with symbols and writings that hold significant meaning to Aboriginal cultures.

Stories are not just told. They are told for something, told for an audience, and in a large sense it is the audience which shapes the telling of the story. This idea is argued by Betty Louise Bell in Faces in the Moon and Diane Glancy in Pushing the Bear. Stories, and storytelling are central themes in both of these novels, and both novels develop the ideas of how and for whom stories are told. Even and perhaps particularly when the speaker and audience are one and the same, that is, one is telling a story to oneself, the audience shapes the story and the way in which it is told. This is because, the novels argue, stories are told for a purpose, be it enjoyment, relaxation, distraction from problems, or remembrance. The teller of the story has a purpose, which they wish to impart on the audience, or themselves if they are the audience. Since this purpose is tied to the audience, the telling of the story is tied to the audience.

Over the years, our Australian Indigenous people have been subjected to immense anguish, which was brought to them by the Western Culture. For many of them, reconnecting with their ancestors through their traditional spiritualties is allowing their sufferings to heal. Kate Jones examines the work of Miriam Rose, a well known artist and advocate for the Education of Indigenous Youth who believes it cannot stop there, we must educate our young, and she is constantly striving to empower
Indigenous youth through education, art, culture and opportunity.

Many relationships found in the world or in stories exhibit complexities which make even the simplest tasks difficult. Li-Young Lee portrays this idea in his poem “A Story.” In his poem, Lee unfolds a tale of a man who is unable to tell his son the story which he desires. Furthermore, Lee employs devices such as structure and point of view to reveal how a combination of emotions leads the pair to silence.

Once there was a woman who told a story. However, she had more than just an entertaining tale to tell. She chose common images that everyone would understand, and she wrapped her story around them, and in this way she was able to teach the people . . .

In the beginning a story only exists in my shifting imagination, until I know what I want to say, and can put it on paper, with a pencil. As the words materialize, they become real and take on a life of their own, they exist on their own; only the choice

Aboriginal artwork is a physical depiction of the ancestor sprits, which are connected and linked throughout the artwork. Which is linked back to the begging of time. During the creation period when the ancestor sprits dwelled the land leaving behind their remains and part of themselves behind in forms of rock art, caves implanting themselves in the land and playing a significant role in aboriginal artwork. Mostly all aboriginal art can be connected to scenery with various paintings depicting the substantial relationship between various features within the land. All aboriginal art should be viewed and considered as important and significant because they are basically the representations of relationships which are seen as lessons that impact and guide how the land is perceived and understood today. Whenever an aboriginal painting displays or ever represents particular structures and characteristics of the land its main focus is to be presented in a story like manner. The paintings and artwork symbolizes the continuing link with the country the land and the responsibilities that are tied to it. Paintings are a display that is incredibly important and hold a significant meaning. Paintings are seen as a radical act to display and express to the world that the aboriginal people posses the land and the land posses

A writing ecology is a dynamic, interconnected system of communication, which works together through interaction and sharing. As the term ‘ecology’ traditionally refers to the relationships between organisms in an environment, the ability to metaphorically link this to a concept of writing redefines the complexity of networked technologies and the influences of technological change. The ability to participate in a digitally evolving space opens up new possibilities and opportunities when accessing and expressing knowledge and information. Snowfall (Branch, 2016) is an explicit example of this as it demonstrates key concepts through optimising its environment. By allowing the audience to actively engage themselves in the text, Snowfall revolutionised traditional media in its time.

The power of storytelling can create connections between people and allow individuals to find their inner

Art festivals can be an excellent advantage for indigenous artists who are trying to gain recognition and enumerating the art pieces they produce. Throughout the years, upcoming artists have found a great deal of difficulties trying to find different occasions to showcase their work, since most of the opportunities they have had was trying to exhibit their art at different art institution. Artists face a lot of competition and challenges in terms of getting galleries to represent, show or sell their art. Only an insignificant percentage of artists will be successful in achieving recognition for their work. “imaginative was originally founded in part as a response to issues as self representation, back in 1999 there wasn't an annual place or meeting where indigenous artists had an exclusive opportunity to