Floating life: contemporary Aboriginal fibre art

84 85 Left Elizabeth Djuttara Gurrumba Gurrumba/Ganalbingu people NT b.1942 Wanydjalpi (Yam sculpture) 2004 Bark fibre string and paperbark Installed dimensions variable Acc. 2005.061 Purchased 2005. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant © Elizabeth Djuttara 2004. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2009 Right Eva Hesse United States 1936–1970 Untitled (Rope piece) 1969–70 Latex over rope, string and wire Dimensions variable Purchase, with funds from Eli and Edythe L Broad, the Mrs Percy Uris Purchase Fund, and the Painting and Sculpture Committee Collection: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York © The Estate of Eva Hesse Image courtesy: Hauser and Wirth, Zurich Opposite left Clara Yam Olkola/Egng ochow people QLD b.1931 Abmin (String bag) 2007 Knotted-netted bark fibre string 56 x 43cm Acc. 2008.176 Opposite right Abmin (String bag) 2007 Knotted-netted natural fibre and polypropylene 42 x 25cm Acc. 2008.174 Purchased 2008. The Queensland Government’s Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund Indigenous customs and beliefs. Works by just three out of many artists show the centrality and versatility of string. Margaret Djogiba’s visually arresting looped string bag, with its intricate lace-like fabric and subtle shifts of tone from rich gold to a sandy tan, evokes a sense of rippling movement that echoes the journey of the ancestral spirit as she moved with her bags across country. It equally manifests the function of the bag as an expansive, organic skin: a symbol of creativity and fertility, like a woman’s body, the string bag is able to hold and let go, expand and contract — physically, visually and symbolically. Playfully exploring the lyrical possibilities of line and shadow, the Wanydjalpi (Yam sculpture) 2004 by Elizabeth Djuttara is reminiscent of Eva Hesse’s latex, string, wire and rope sculpture Untitled (Rope piece) 1969–70. Responding to different cultural circumstances, Djuttara also breaks away from a gridded structure, albeit of the woven basket form, to create an organic painting/drawing/sculpture that resonates with the rhythms of the ceremonies conducted in Arnhem Land to celebrate the seasonal harvesting of the yam. A senior lawman of the Ngarinyman/Ngaliwurru people, Alan Griffiths creates and performs with his distinctive balmarra to maintain his relationship with country and ancestors. Often depicting physical forms and natural phenomena, balmarra are used as dance objects in ceremonies to receive the messages and warnings of dead ancestors. Griffiths’s balmarra record events that came to him through a sequence of dreams involving a spirit figure called Old Mandi. Using a spectacular array of commercially available coloured wools and a bold application of colour and geometric form, Griffiths manifests constellations, places, people and spirits, inviting his audience to share his intimate relationship to country, traditional law and culture. These intricate and often quite personal works encourage consideration of larger issues. From an aesthetic viewpoint, these issues include notions of the contemporary when faced with the innovative exploration of traditional practice. Through a sophisticated handling of abstract qualities of colour and form, the string textiles in ‘Floating Life’ engage with Aboriginal histories and contemporary realities, confirming the strength of Aboriginal culture and art today.