More than Meets the Eye
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL “DOT” PAINTINGS
Originating as a way to obscure the secret knowledge of tribal histories and ceremonial practices from outsiders, Australian Aboriginal “dot” paintings evolved from traditional ground paintings, which functioned like maps by charting a clan’s cultural heritage, creation stories, locations of holy sites, and food and water sources. As part of an elaborate ritual, the usually male members in a group used crushed seeds, flowers, and sand to craft these ephemeral paintings that were rarely seen outside a particular village or community.
By the mid-1970s, these temporary art objects (not originally made for the art market) began to attract outside interest, and Aboriginal artists banded together to form a collective, the Papunya Tula, which is credited with bringing international attention to this unique art form. Eventually, many in the Aboriginal community felt that the sacred nature of their ceremonies and cultural practices suffered from overexposure; artists soon adopted the stylistic practice of dotting a painting in order to camouflage overt references to traditional imagery from outsiders and the uninitiated members of the group. The paintings, now created on canvas with bright acrylic paints, have become the most recognizable forms of Aboriginal art from Western Australia, and many works of art sell at auction for up to half a million dollars. Though their traditions are shrouded behind a hail of dots, these paintings succeed in telling a story of a people who took ownership of their culture and their creativity. —SBR