Firstly, I would like to respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Dharawal Country, the land on which we live. I would also like to acknowledge and pay my respect to Elders past, present and those emerging. I would like to acknowledge the value, diversity and integrity of Aboriginal art, culture, and expression as an integral part of Australian heritage.

I would like to also acknowledge and thank the contribution of young local visual arts student, Isabella Crocco, whom I met when I attended an exhibition by local Indigenous artist Kay A in the Gerringong Library a couple of weeks ago. Isabella wrote her Year 12 major project, “How has Aboriginal art transformed over time”, with assistance from Kay A. of the Wiradjuri Nation.

Indigenous art is centred on storytelling, used as a visual to convey knowledge of the land, events and beliefs of the Aboriginal people. It is imperative to pass on information to preserve their culture. There are over 250 Indigenous languages, so to convey important cultural stories through the generations, symbols and totems represent these stories through artworks. 

Isabella said “Through studying Aboriginal art over the years, I have noticed a much larger representation of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art in public spaces, on book covers and in the fashion industry. Many people do not realise that these artworks, designs and prints are visual forms of Aboriginal storytelling which have transformed through its style, medium and scale.”

Kay Andonopoulos and Isabella Crocco at Kay’s exhibition.

Contemporary Aboriginal artists use a wide variety of materials and techniques, including new technologies such as computers, three-dimensional and live elements, and performances. Alternatively, traditional artists use a limited number of materials and a restrained colour palette of yellow, brown, red and charcoal. Only over fifty years ago did painters begin using canvas or boards for their media, having previously used rock walls, sand, and bark.

Isabella says, “Contemporary art also includes the beginnings of installation art, the use of new materials and the rethinking of the "found object". Contemporary art uses different media and a brighter colour palette, and it continues to maintain this millennia-old culture through storytelling tradition.”

This traditional to contemporary art transformation has sparked interest in producing Aboriginal art across rural and remote areas, while a different kind of Indigenous art has emerged in urban Australia. Both have become central to Australian art, with Indigenous art centers fostering their growth.

“Supporting and promoting Aboriginal art has an effect in facilitating the language, culture and history of Aboriginal people and those who chose to live in remote locations linked to their own ancestral lands. These groups are the largest contributors to artworks seen in galleries and museums around the country,” Isabella informs.

How has traditional Aboriginal art evolved from traditional to contemporary? 

Isabella’s research indicates that the contemporary Aboriginal art movement was born in the remote Northern Territory settlement of Papunya in 1971 when a group of Aboriginal elders began recording their knowledge of traditional culture on canvas and paper. A schoolteacher named Geoffrey Bardon was working with Aboriginal groups in Papunya at this time, and other remote communities around Alice Springs.

Bardon noticed the Elders drawing symbols in the sand and recognised that the art was significant to these people as a form of language. Bardon was very interested in preserving this important part of their culture and lore, so he consulted with the Elders within these groups. This was the birth of the Aboriginal contemporary art movement. Soon after, eleven men formed a cooperative called ‘Papunya Tula Artists', and the movement began to generate widespread interest across rural and remote Aboriginal Australia.

Isabella reveals that the 'Papunya Tula Artists' company is owned and directed by traditional Aboriginal people from the Western Desert, predominantly of the Luritja/Pintupi language groups. It has 49 shareholders and now represents around 120 artists. 

“The Papunya artists use dots, lines, footprints, and circles to create balanced forms and brightly coloured details, invoking their different language groups, magical stories, and associated memories. These works revealed a new style of art emerging initially from this single community on one significant occasion in Australia’s history,” she says.

Traditional Aboriginal artists used rock walls or bark.

Kay Andonopoulos, who owns Werombi Studios, completed five years of formal education at the school of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and is formally recognised as a practicing artist of approximately 20 years.  She gave her time and knowledge to assist Isabella in understanding her artist practice and personal connection to her artworks and process. 

A number of her works have been acquired by government and private institutions. 

Kay says, “Through engagement in corroboree, ceremony, celebration of mythology and spirituality, my art continues to evolve through stories that educate about culture.” 

Kay reveals some of her background, “I am Kay of Wiradjuri nation, Cowra mob, Galari clan and there’s only one of me. I was born on Gadigal land, have moved around a little bit and have now settled in Gerringong. 

“My origins in art, it is something I was born with, and it is part of my dreaming to tell stories through artmaking. I am influenced by traditional Wiradjuri culture; however, I connect to the country that I am on when not on Wiradjuri country.” 

Kay reveals her motivation for art, “My dreaming, or what you might say my calling. It’s something that you can’t ignore. I will draw on dirt or on a wall. It’s something that I do in my spare time, but if I don't do it, I’m empty.”

Kay says that she changes her medium according to what she needs to say, “It can vary, but at the moment, it's entirely acrylic paint and usually on canvas.”

Papunya Tula artists at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2011.

And which type of art does Kay prefer? “I really enjoy creating traditional pieces. There's always a story to tell with them. Everything I paint is for a purpose.” 

She doesn't often do commissions because she doesn't paint for decorative purposes. “I’ll combine the two because I’ve got a foot now in both worlds. I paint from a very contemporary perspective, but I always put my signs and symbols in there and that tells the story – my truth,” Kay adds.

When asked about whether she believes that Aboriginal art has transformed over time, Kay responds, “It has; I heard a quote, “We don't live in the past, we bring our traditions into new worlds.” I live in a predominantly multicultural community, but in communities where they're very strong in (their) traditional culture that has not been interfered with or dominated, people continue to practice in their traditional ways, so it depends on the nation and where you go around (the) country.”

Kay’s next exhibition starts on Friday September 29 until October 5, at The GLaM Gallery, 8 Blackwood Street Gerringong.