Gemerre

Phyllis Thomas 

Gemerre by Phyllis Thomas.   Australia 1933 -
Language group: Gija, Kimberley region
120.0 x 180.0 x 2.5 cm stretcher overall : a - left panel; 120 x 90 x 2.5 cm b - right panel; 120 x 90 x 2.5 cm
Materials used diptych: synthetic polymer paint and sand on canvas.


    This work is abstract art. I can feel the black and white in many ways using my experience and how I look to art. In some translated to this work it mean scars that the old Aboriginal people used to cut across their bodies. Their leg, arm and stomach. This keep them safe when going across rivers. On the other hand, the paint deliver sad and old story, story about their life, how hard it was. The color here is telling. Using black and white in this way not about poor imagination but to tell something, could be sad creation story, which is belong to the Aboriginal life. In addition, when you reading an art work it is not necessary to get the exact meaning of the artist, but how you, as a reader, translate his work with your own experience.