Artist: Paddy Japaljarri Sims

hey,

Paddy is a Warlpiri speaker who was born circa 1917 at Kunajarrayi, west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. He is one of the most influential artists of this region as he and others established the fine arts within the community. Paddy has worked consistently on canvas for the last 25 years and along with other artists in the area, has collaborated numerous times to produce paintings depicting their land which has been privately and publicly displayed. His artwork is rich in style as he uses repetition of shapes, though placed asymmetrically around the canvas which creates the feeling of a natural flow and as seen in these two examples, uses a wide range of colour pallets to create the overall theme and mood to the painting. From a design perspective, the placement of the icons seems to be to harmonious and in come cases symmetrical, though it the expressions through his painting of his land that makes these paintings different from others.

b.mac

http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/art/yuendumu.php

Sculpturer: Ken Thaiday

Ken Thaiday was born on Erub Island in 1950,  where he spent alot of his childhood around his father fishing on Darnley Island. Ken recalls fishing as the only thing they did on the small island as it was a part of their culture and skill. His passion for making his works comes from the love of fishing and the various types of fish he catches. The materials he uses in his works were skills that Ken's father taught him and it is evident in his sculptures and the attention to detail is amazing.  The image below is a headdress, which hence the name is a sculpture worn on top of the head during ceremonies and special occasions (dances). The shark is Ken's key totemic animal and in his culture certain sharks are associated with law and order, so respect forms part of the inspiration for his headdresses.

b.mac

Torres Strait Islands

me again,

Just been looking at some artists from the Torres Strait Islands region online and found some interesting artists/ sculptures. In particular I found works by Ken Thaiday whose work is made from various materials. From looking at the work from the Managerie exhibition, it is similar and uses intricate elements to create abstract representations of animals. Overall I find that the Torres Strait Islands arts are much more detailed and use commonly 2 colours and show the whole figure of the animals they are drawing. Below are some paintings by recent artists which show the attention to detail on the linen artworks.

b.mac

http://www.aboriginalartprints.com.au/regions_details.php?region_id=9

Artist: Eubena Nampitjin

hello,

This week I am looking at Eubena (Yupinya) Nampitjin, who is a well known painter in the Kimberly region, Western Australia. Born in the 1920's at Tjinjadpa, she speaks Wangkajungka and Kukatja languages and is one of the most esteemed law women in her community. She is known greatly to being one of the best artists of Balgo and with intricate complexity along with a love of the warm reds, oranges and yellows, these are said to be part of Eubena's signature. "Eubena has great spontaneity and strength in her painting, leaving rhythmical tracks across the canvas composed of thick layers of dotted lines."
I find Eubena's work more abstract than traditional Aboriginal artists as there is a feeling of softness to the painting, like shown below. Her paintings are vibrant and use free flowing shapes/lines to represent the land she paints.

b.mac