Bush Hen Dreaming, Sandhill Country
Date2004
Maker
Abie Loy Kamerre
Australian Aboriginal, Anmatyerr people, Utopia, Central Desert, Northern Territory, born 1972
Label TextImage and title seem to be at odds in this painting. Swirling lines provide no clue as to where the hen might be. However, the bush hen’s search for seeds, plums and tomatoes is imbedded in the memory of the artist and forms a source of inspiration. Both a glimpse of the dynamic movement of a creature trying to find fruit, and a record of the channels of sandhills, this landscape merges daily life with the eternal forces of the dreaming. “Dreaming” is a term that often stands for Aboriginal cosmologies that encompass the creation of the universe, and provide a source of ongoing spiritual nourishment.
--Pam McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, 2012
Object number2019.20.15
Provenance[Gallerie Australis, Adelaide, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2004
Photo CreditPhoto: iocolor, Seattle
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, May 31 - Sept. 12, 2012 (Nashville, Tenessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, June 23 - Oct. 15, 2017; Madison, Wisconsin, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Jan. 26 - Apr. 22, 2018; Austin, Texas, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, June 3 - Sept. 9, 2018; Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Audain Art Museum, Oct. 5, 2018 - Jan. 28, 2019). Text by Pamela McClusky, Wally Caruana, Lisa Graziose Corrin, and Stephen Gilchrist. No cat. no., pp. 25, 150, reproduced pl. 18.Credit LineGift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan
Dimensions71 5/8 x 71 5/8 in. (182 x 182 cm)
MediumSynthetic polymer paint on canvas
Yuendumu Women's Collaborative (Biddy Napanangka Hutchinson, b. 1931; Betsy Napangardi Lewis, b. 1940; Judy Napangardi Watson, b. 1925; Rosie Nangala Flemming, b. 1930; Amanda Nangala Jurra, n.d.; Bessie Nakamarra Sims, b. 1932; and Pamela Napurrurla Walker, b. 1957)
1999
Object number: 2019.20.21
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