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