One of the works I took into the framing studio this week, is an aboriginal dot painting.
Aboriginal Dot Painting
Dot painting originated in Australian desert, where the indigenous people told stories using ochre, sand, blood, coal from their fires, and plant material placed together on the ground clump by clump for various ceremonial occasions. Nowadays many aboriginal artists use ready made acrylics, while some still mix up their own with school grade paint and a binding product (one recipe I found included Bondall glue!) Some dot paintings are more fragile and susceptible to damage as a result.
A popular ‘perspective’ for the artist is as though one is on high and looking down over the desert landscape. You are looking down at clumps of growth, spinifix grass, desert hardwood bush and occasional rocks or rock outcrops; making up the myriad of dots that seem to cover the landscape. Because everything in the desert has meaning to the Australian Aborigine these seemingly unimportant arrays of pattern in the desert have special meaning to the Dot painters of the western desert.
Aboriginal paintings hold a strong link to ‘Dreamtime’, there is symbolism relaying meanings that are seemingly obscure, and experts all agree that this was a deliberate intent in the early Aboriginal art movement; The People were concerned that non-initiated would understand or learn the sacred, secret or restricted part of their stories. Over-dotting, was a camouflaging of the original message. The practise of over dotting however has largely fallen away - one reason being acceptance that the uninitiated westerner cannot understand the iconography anyway (in other than the most basic way).
In modern times, an art buyer often receives a written ‘translation’ of the story, providing a basic understanding of the subjects. The more you look at it the more you will see - perhaps you shall come to unravel with the sacred secret is if you look long enough.
How am I framing this piece of art?
It shall be presented simply, in keeping with the originating culture of the work. It is being stretched onto stretcher bars with stainless steel staples, and will have an archival varnish applied to help protect the paint itself.
