A detail of Australia painting
I did one of my unusual paintings far on 2010 after visiting an amazing exhibition in Rome with the title “Australia today, capolavori degli aborigeni d’ Australia”, an amazing collection of the Aboriginal Australians dot paintings and I was fascinated with the amazing use of colours and the infinite imagination that these paintings can comunicate.
“Before Indigenous Australian art was ever put onto canvas the Aboriginal people would smooth over the soil to draw sacred designs which belonged to that particular ceremony.
Body paint was also applied which held meanings connected to sacred rituals. These designs were outlined with circles and encircled with dots.
Uninitiated people never got to see these sacred designs since the soil would be smoothed over again and painted bodies would be washed. This was not possible with paintings.
Aboriginal artists abstracted their paintings to disguise the sacred designs so the real meanings could not be understood by Westerners.”*
The dotting technique I used in the painting
I grew up proud of what my ancestors the Ancient Egyptians had done in every field and this makes me conserve a great respect in my heart of these traces which our ancestors left us whether they are Ancient Egyptians or Aboriginals Australians.
“Some of the most exciting dot paintings artistically, are those painted by older Aboriginal Artists. Not only do these artworks represent ancient stories and iconography, but by virtue of the advanced age of the artists, frequently in their seventies, eighties or even older, are less precise and steady than works by the younger generations. This gives the works a beautiful, painterly quality and a loose, relaxed style which is not only aesthetically pleasing but can often be a signature of the Aboriginal Artist’s work.”**
Obviously I couldn’t resist to come back to my studio and start an acrylic painting dedicated to the Aboriginal Australians using their dotting technique. If you’re curious about the finished painting, check it in my gallery https://www.otheima.com/ambiguity/#&gid=1&pid=3 .
I think I have to try the same technique in a new painting!
*https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal- dot-art-behind-the-dots/
**https://www.kateowengallery.com/page/Aboriginal-Dot-Painting
