22 Sep 2022
According to aboriginal artist, Michael Riley, the feather suggests a spiritual connection between the earth & the sky.
This weekend if you’re looking for a chance to ground so that you can reach the sky, please consider dropping by the National Gallery for “Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia,” exhibition, ending in 3 days’ time.
I rarely rave about art because firstly I’m not trained, and secondly I lack the words to do justice to works that speak to our subconscious.
But the experience at this exhibition that I visited a few weeks’ back keeps coming back to me. It was my first time consciously seeing pigments made from earth and minerals painted on barks of eucalyptus. I inhaled the paintings as it were, even as I stood & stared at the mesmerising dots, crosses, and tiny strokes that appeared so childlike and so sublime at the same time.
I was entranced by the Rainbow Serpent which I only read about in books rendered in floor to ceiling dimension at the exhibition. It was swimming energetically before our eyes even as it appeared to be still.
I regretted not taking a picture of the aboriginal dancer drawn in white pigment against black background. His calves were strong & elegant. And I could see the energy emanating from his stomping legs & turning torso while he held a spear and and a shield.
In these turbulent times I hope this exhibition will go to many places and bless lots of people with its ancestral wisdom and life affirming power.
Lisa Ong 
