i – Works – eMuseum

i

2006

Australian, born 1957

"The leaves represent Tasmania where there are more varieties of gum trees than anywhere else in Australia. Within each leaf is the gum tree itself, as in the veins of the eyelid. The circles represent harmony. The inner circle symbolises contact between the Dutch and Tasmanian Aboriginal people. As they did not meet physically, contact was through sight: the upper eye sees Dutch ships; the lower eye sees the Tasman Bridge (in Hobart) as a symbol of the bridge between the Dutch and Aboriginal people. The colour within the leaves is that of the earth. The blue in the eyes refers to Europeans and blue is symbolic of the upper classes in history as blue was a precious pigment."--Alan Mansell

Hard-ground etching in three colors, printed from two copper plates

Sheet: 29 15/16 x 22 1/16in. (76 x 56cm)

Image: 23 5/8 x 17 11/16in. (60 x 45cm)

Gift of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

2007.81.3

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Not currently on view

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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