A Strong Current in the work of Judy Watson
The relationship between art and Indigenous identity in Australia has been formed over thousands of years, and the visual arts are still a dominant tool used by Indigenous artists to express their identity in contemporary society. Making art in a modern culture that places great credence on individualism means that artists are continually pushed to create something that is unique and conveys their personal identity. Aboriginal artists frequently create art that reflects their own cultural experiences or events, most specifically in relation to the intervention of Western society. Indigenous artists seek to create very distinctive identities in their art, giving both their culture and people a voice.
The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art’s (QAGOMA) recent exhibition, ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia’, examined the identity of Indigenous Australians, presenting their views on history, politics, personal experiences and connections to land. Aiming to address ‘things that people may have thought they knew, but to look at them through a different pair of eyes’ (Madeleine, 2013), this provocative and engaging exhibition palpably sought to voice Indigenous identity in one of Australia’s most prominent art galleries. Aspects of Aboriginal history and expressions of their newfound identities have emerged strongly in contemporary Indigenous Australian art over the past thirty years, in conjunction with the wider acceptance of Indigenous artists. Ancestral traditions, paired with an explicit exploration of the place of Aborigines within Australian history, are continually expressed through the artists’ photography, sculptures, paintings and installations.
Similarly, the attitudes that are reflected in both contemporary and traditional works are a reflection of colonial encounters and past attempts to integrate Indigenous Australians into white society. Identity, as a profound notion... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline
Judy Watson, memory bones, 2007. Pigment on canvas, 211 x 127cm. The James C Sourris Collection, Brisbane. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
