Open Studio 4

"What is the value of that?"

Photo taken by Jemima Carey 14/07/2024 Aurukun, North Queensland

Aurukun

During the mid-year break I had the honour of teaching art at Aurukun State School.

Aurukun is a small Indigenous community in far North Queensland; My aunt is the Principal at the school there and asked if I would like to volunteer and teach art there for two weeks, an offer I happily accepted.

I recorded my experiences there in a journal, both with written words and illustrations. I was very privileged to be taught some artistic methods by Phillis, a Wik woman from Aurukun who works at the Aurukun art gallery.

I have no Australian First Nations heritage so I cannot use the practices I learned in the context of Indigenous story telling or Indigenous cultural expression. However Phillis generously taught me her weaving techniques, many of which could to be applied to my own art and my own cultural story telling.

Experiences I had in Aurukun will inspire some of my art for this semester. This will be an interesting test for me to consciously walk the line of appreciation and appropriation; to use the incredibly special techniques I was lucky to be shown in a way that respects the fact that they are not part of my cultural history.

Three illustrated pages from my journal while in Aurukun.

materials: cotton paper, pen, watercolour paint

Ochre Paint

I found an ochre rock which easily crumbled and when mixed with beer, became paint.

I experimented with the paint on skin then paper, playing with the ratio of rock dust to beer.

After using my fingers and twigs to paint lines, I experimented with pressing clovers into the paint, then onto paper. At first it was fairly unsuccessful, I needed to adjust the paint recipe then adjust the pressing process. The most successful prints came from a more watery paint and a hard press using a book to apply great pressure.

The process of experimentation and trial and error was very rewarding; I am very intrigued and pleased with the final product. The playful nature of making art from natural materials was also a joy, I was not focused on realising a pre-conceived plan or artwork, it was purely play.

This pressing process is very similar to monoprinting, a medium I would like to use more. Additionally, the inclusion of natural paints has a beautiful effect that I would like to try and integrate with traditional printing ink.

This is a photograph that resulted post - printing experiment. I enjoy this as an individual photograph, it shows all the elements of the printed artwork. (beer, ochre, clover)