(with the exception of a furry white toadstool sculpture, and a few painted sketches by an 18th century British settler, one of which was titled 'Meteor seen by me', which were just funny)
I really liked the native paintings, they're so amazing to see in real life and seem really honest, and also like a lesson, and an effort to be person of a functioning proud community. They have a modest certainty of direction.
I also loved 'Evening Shadows, backwater of the Murray' by H.J.Johnstone. It was the kind of landscape you can only imagine, or see in films like Hook. It reminded me though of where I went night canoeing near Yungaburra in the The Atherton Tablelands and we were lying back in our boats in the dark and the whole sky lit up green because there was a meteor. A meteor seen by me. That was pretty special. But yeah, the painting was so calming and serene and just represented the kind of life I live in my head!
Here's a detail from it (it would spoil it to try and show it in full on screen).
Then there was a photograph by Axel Poignant which made me pensive, and gave me an idea for something i'm working on at the moment. It's called 'Swagman... on the road to Wilcannia'.
Swagman was the term used for a transient worker. After the Australian economy crashed in 1929 almost a third of Aussies were unemployed and so began the Australian Depression. The Swagman in the photo is wheeling his worldly possessions on the search for work.
I am currently making some utility dresses and tops, partly inspired by my research into co-operation and self-sufficiency (people and society would be better if we all had the skills to look after ourselves - so i'm making my own clothes and designing ones that encourage craft and skill). The garments all have pockets, mostly large ones, to accommodate all the tools for pursuing the skills with which to be self sufficient. They can be worn in the studio, the fields, the dining room. They're versatile and all made from end-of-line or reclaimed textiles, with next to no wastage being produced in my making of them.
The idea of the swagman carrying all he needs, and taking it upon himself to get what he needs, identified with my idea. He also has a little talisman tacked onto the back of his bike, as if to show that wherever he goes and whatever he does he'll always keep his 'self' intact.
His state of transience also identifies (on a quite disparate scale) with my having left uni and unsure where or how to apply my skills, and flitting between ideas of what to pursue next and in what manner. Trying my brief hand at various things. The long and undulating road ahead of him is obvious in what it represents.
Such transience can be frustrating, but has an aesthetic romanticism that is allowed in hindsight, (hence why we find films like 'Days of Heaven', and people like Woodie Guthrie so alluring, despite their inherently serious subjects.) It helps us to romanticise a less than favourable situation; you'll take what you're given and make it yours with your own bare hands, because it's interesting that way. 'Such is life' as Ned Kelly said, just before he was hung.
And while you're doing the best you can with what you've got, you'll look good doing it too (hopefully) in these clothes i'm making. So yeah, these dresses and tops are utilitarian but also romanticise self-sufficiency, skills and craft, and the spirit of hard work (the latter is a whole other story where I can talk about Bruce Springsteen endlessly so i'll save that one for another time).
And this is just lush colours ; 'Rain dreaming at Nyunmanu' by Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri. paint on linen.
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