The symbiotic relationships between tradition, culture, family, and connection to country feature in the opening exhibition at Mitchell Fine Art in Fortitude Valley.
Showing from February 1st, Mother Country Tjukurrpa is an exhibition of paintings and sculpture illustrating the connections in Aboriginal society between the land, tradition, and their defining dreaming stories or ‘Tjukurrpa’.
Tjukurrpa refers to the creation period and the origins of country, objects, songs, and stories. Each artwork illustrates a personal connection between the artist and the story of cultural significance that they are conveying.
Showcasing artworks reflecting ancient relationships in a contemporary setting, the exhibition highlights the diversity in Australian Aboriginal art, which stems from a culture that can be traced back over sixty-five thousand years. The exhibition is a visual portrayal of how Aboriginal art has evolved in a contemporary setting and is not confined or constrained by its traditional cultural form.
Aboriginal people have maintained traditional stories and lore through various ways over the millennia, primarily through dance, ceremony, and verbal means. Their artwork today provides an alternative method of storytelling and cultural maintenance. Through their paintings Aboriginal people convey knowledge, tradition, and history.
Aboriginal art is a dynamic, influential, and compelling artform. Unrestrained when it comes to the rules around composition and colour theory, it has a freedom in its approach that invites the use of intuition and personal perception in mark making and visual storytelling.
Artists featured include Lorna Fencer Napurrula, Tommy Watson, Kudditji Kngwarreye, Barney Ellaga and Patrick Tjungurrayi.
Image: Josie Petrick Kemarre, 120 x 180cm, Acrylic on Linen.
