ABORIGINAL DESERT ART  GALLERY

MAUREEN NAMPITJINPA HUDSON

Maureen was born in 1952 in the bush at Mt Allan cattle station near Yuendumu. She went to school at Yuendumu settlement in the sixties and later returned to Mt Allan and worked as a teachers assistant for three years.

Maureen is an accomplished artist and has been painting as a career since 1981, and is fully aware of the history and background of the art, both in itss traditional form and the modern acrylic movement.

Maureen has four children who are now grown, Michael, Jillian, Gwenda and Anderson. Jillian is showing great promise as an artist in her own right.

Maureen is an accomplished artist and has been painting as a career since 1981, and is fully aware of the history and the background of the art, both in its traditional context and the modern acrylic movement. Her paintings or Dreamings originate from Warlukalongu, her father's and grandfather's country and involve Emu and Fire from her fathers side and Women's Ceremony from her mothers side. Maureen's first love is painting which she refers to as culture art.

In 1990 she travelled to Vanuatu for the Art Dock show, the first international art exhibition to be held in Vanuatu. She has since moved to Alice Springs where she paints regularly for local and interstate galleries.

Maureen paints in a strong and innovative style, and is equally at ease working with other artists on collaborative pieces. Her joint piece 'Seven Sisters Dreaming' with Alice Springs artist Maggie Urban was exhibited and toured with the 'Commitments' exhibition in 1993 through the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.

She was artist-in-residence at the Mulgara Gallery, Yulara (Ayers Rock, NT) in January 1994, and has also exhibited At the Desert Art Gallery Melbourne, and Sydney.

Maureen's designs have recently been created in a range of carpets, which depict her strong sense of colour choice and meticulous design work.

Maureen's works hang in many national and international collections, and her works are sought after by art collectors from around the world.

Aboriginal paintings are based on myths of the Dreamtime. In modern dot representation, the sacred aspect of the painting is not always revealed, but the meaning remains, transmitted through symbols which are easily understood.

Each person has particular Dreaming to which they belong and they have special ceremonial dances and songs that combine together to form a unique religion that makes up the lives of the Aboriginal people. All things related to the land and thus the land is of great importance to them. The land is the keeper of the Dreaming and must be kept safe for all time so that the Dreaming stories, which are told in the paintings, can be preserved.

Ceremonies always involve song, dance and body decoration, The ownership, management and performance is dependent upon knowledge and status.

While many ceremonies are open or public, many are secret to varying degrees. The categories of people who can be present are restricted; groups such as women, girls and uninitiated men and strangers would all have limitations placed on them in relation to men's ceremonies; men, boys and uninitiated girls would have similar restrictions placed on them in relation to women's ceremonies

''SEED DREAMING''

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

Maureen's paintings or dreamings originate from WARLUKALONGU, her father and grandfather's country and involve EMU and FIRE from her father's side and WOMEN'S CEREMONY from her mother's side. Maureen's first love is painting which she refers to as culture art.

This painting by Maureen is set just east of Yuendumu, 350km west of Alice Springs.

There are six women shown in this painting each with a coolamon and digging sticks, they are gathering Pink Seeds.

The three concentric circles in the painting represent waterholes in the area, where bush tucker is abundant and is found. The lines that join these three waterholes depict underground waterways.

Towards the middle of the painting we can see a small Grinding Stone for the Seeds.

The search for bush tucker and other edible fruits is an important part of Aboriginal life. Not only as a means of day to day survival but as a way of ensuring the continued fertility of human and ancestral populations.