My Style, why do I paint this way?
The aim of this essay is to provide the reader with a greater and more informed understanding of WHY I paint the way I do.
Let me introduce myself to you, my name is kurina – Andrew Gall – ‘kurina’ is my attained tribal name, I am a palawa man from lutruwita (now known as Tasmania). I did not start painting until 1995, when I was inspired to create a piece of art depicting a program with the church I was currently attending.
It had never occurred to me that I may need to defend the style in which I paint, perhaps it is because I was naive in the world of art or perhaps it was because my art works have always been accepted as they and not held for ransom by some over active imagination of a uniformed individual.
During my journey through the unit Dreamtime and Machine Time one of the exercises was to bring in an art work for other class members to look at and ask questions, it was this exercise that has led to a formulation of a defence for my style of painting.
The following are some examples of the questions that were proposed to me;
1) Why do you use dots when you’re not Desert People?
2) Do the colours you use have significant meanings?
3) What is the emblem/symbol that is located in the lower right hand corner of your painting?
4) You don’t look Aborigine, why are you painting this way?
Ok, responding to the first question, it was suggested that I look up the essay “Why you paint like that” written by artist Marshall Bell. Upon reading the essay I can see that Marshall has done considerable research into many of the painting styles which are claimed by the Central and Northern Australian Aboriginals actually have history in South East Australia. (Anasaldo 2010)
This essay and research was consider controversial at the time as it opened up a series of debates and conversations, however I would like to add fuel to the fire of this controversy by showing that the lutruwita people also used ‘dots, lines...