Totems tell the story

Aboriginal Art Directory | 18.07.09

Aboriginal totems are painted in a modernist style making some of them appear as shiny and straight as steel, in artist Ian Waldron's new show opening July 17.

Waldron's varying depictions of his Kurtjar clan's bloodwood tree dominate his new show at Framed gallery at Stuart Park.

"I'm not from this area - not a traditional-like Aboriginal painter," he said.

"I'm telling a story about my country through the totems - it's a bit more contemporary Aboriginal art."

Some of them reveal themselves from a stark empty background, others are placed on a ground of paint splatters of leaf litter and feathers.

Others are lines with painstakingly applied veins and bark corrugations, which are rendered in relief off the tree trunks.

Waldron's show will be opened by former NT senator Grant Tambling at 7pm July 17.

Also showing at Framed from July 17 are two other shows: The New Artgang, which showcases Lockhart River artists from Queensland, and a new exhibition of paintings by James Ainslie, called Moods of a Billabong.

URL: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/07/17/67821_ntentertainment.html

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