Gathering Storm
Date1993
Maker
Lin Onus
Australian Aboriginal, 1948-1996
Label TextYou’re in the Barmah Forest, the largest eucalyptus forest in the world. It’s dusk, and tree reflections are turning black and blue. One fish touches the surface, showing off its markings, which are based on body painting worn by the artist to signify his clan. Onus’s mother was Scottish, and his father was an Aboriginal rights leader. This is one of twelve paintings of the same billabong seen at different times of the day and night, recording how different and yet the same one place can appear from dawn to midnight.
It is dusk. Layers of reflected clouds and tall trees are turning dark blue and black. A single fish breaks the surface of the water, flashing bright markings that cover its body. Exacting details such as these convey the sense that the artist has spent hours observing this setting and has a vibrant reaction to present to the viewer. Gathering Storm is one of twelve paintings by Lin Onus of the same site at different hours of the day. Sorting out the imagery that Onus used—the markings on the fish, the view beneath the surface of the water, the setting of a billabong—leads to a discussion of the artist's blending of many sources, his unusual origins and his distinctive contribution to Australian art.
Object number2006.31
ProvenanceGallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Australia; Shay Kane, Seattle, Washington
Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann
For Lin, art was a tool, a weapon and a shelter…
Michael Eather, artist and friend, 2003
Credit LineGeneral Acquisition Fund and friends of Australian Aboriginal Art, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
Dimensions35 5/8 x 47 9/16 x 3/4 in. (90.5 x 120.8 x 1.9 cm)
MediumOil on linen
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