Media Release
February 20 2008
My dreaming - past - present - future
My
dreaming – past – present – future, a collection of artworks
depicting Aboriginal lore, culture, tradition and reconciliation on silk
and paper by Muriel Van Der Byl AM (Mumthelang) opens tomorrow night at
the
Hawke Centre’s Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at UniSA.
Van Der Byl, whose works hang in major Australian galleries and public spaces, began painting on silk in 1992 - inspired by a dream.
“I always loved painting on things. It was a way of individualising my clothes and possessions,” the artist says.
“It was only after I had this dream about painting on silk that I understood that I was being guided spiritually to the medium and that I needed to express my own understanding of my traditional culture artistically and in my own way.”
All of the works in My dreaming – past – present – future are new. Some of the imagery is of recurring motifs from the artist’s catalogue (fish, snakes, kangaroos, birds, women and men) as well as some intriguing multi-layered narrative works (extended kinships, mystical creatures).
Van Der Byl (Mumthelang) was born in 1943 in Adelaide and is a Yarraldi Aboriginal elder with ancestral ties to Kaurna and Laitji Laitji. Highly regarded for her creativity and social activism Van Der Byl became a Member of the Order for “service to the Indigenous community through the promotion of art and culture and as an advocate for social justice”.
Supported by the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, UniSA.
My dreaming – past – present – future will be launched by the Hon Justice Robyn Layton at 6.30pm, Thursday February 21 in the Bradley Forum, Hawke Building, UniSA City West campus, 50-60 North Terrace, Adelaide.
The exhibition will be on display in the Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Hawke Building between 9am and 5pm, from February 22 until March 14 2008.
Notes for media
• All but one of the works are for sale
• The artist is available for interview throughout the exhibition
Contacts for interview
- Louise Carnell office (08) 8302 0371 email louise.carnell@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Vincent Ciccarello office (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0434 603 457 email vincent.ciccarello@unisa.edu.au