DESERT CREATURES: A Study of Figurative animals from the Desert

Australian Aboriginal art is one of the oldest living art forms known to humankind. Rock art was used to tell stories and honour culture using iconography and animal figures from over 70,000 year's ago. Today contemporary art is a powerful form of expression, culture, and economy for many Indigenous communities. Communities, culture, landscape and language are vastly diverse across Australia, this is also reflected in each region's art practice. While the styles and stories may change from one region to another, the use of figurative animals is a constant, as is the beauty and significance of the work.

Short St’s latest exhibition is an exploration into the use of figurative animals in desert painting. Each artist displays an idiosyncratic and unique approach to capturing the creatures that captivate them. The animals depicted by artists such as, Mary Pan and Trudy Inkamala, are celebrated with aplomb, whether they are significant as a source of food, as a talisman, as part of a dreamtime story, or as an integral part of the landscape. The resulting artworks are bold contemporary approaches to the use of figurative animals by desert artists.