Artists: Lin Onus, Rover Thomas, Yvonne Koolmatrie

Lin Onus was an artist who did much to broaden the scope and league the strands of Australian Indigenous arts.He was also diffusely loved and respected for his compassion and willingness to lead the cause of Aboriginal progress. He experimented not only with painting but also with sculpture. Lin Onus' work is a spirit all compact of fire. Some of Onus' early works directly convey  the anger he felt at social injustice towards Indigenous and other groups he saw as oppressed. I really appreciate his spirit and quality. He always  express his thoughs metaphorically in his works. Sometimes, it's humorous, sardonic and acuminous.

Representative Works - Lin Onus

 Fruit Bats1991
polychromed fibreglass sculptures, polychromed wooden disks, Hills Hoist clothesline

250 x 250 x 250cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales 

 Ginger and my third wife approach the roundabout
1994
synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen
200.0 x 250.0 cm
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Purchased 2000. The Queensland Government's special Centenary Fund
© Lin Onus. Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia

Rover Thomas was one of the most famous aborigianl artists in Australia. His landscapes reflect the artist's immanent understanding and oneness with his country that representing a formidable and vibrant living essence. It's not just of the physical landscape, but also of the changing family gathering, past and present, that breathed life into and on the earth. I can extremely feel his love for the homeland, that's great and powerful. Rover Thomas' minimalist abstract works are at once ancient and contemporary, most painted in the umber and ochres colours of his native land. 

Representative Works - Rover Thomas

 Two Men Dreaming
1985
national pigments on canvas board
91 x 61 cm

 

 Gula Gula (Manking)
1989
earth pigments and natural binders on canvas
90.2 x 180.5 cm
The Janet Holmes à Court Gallery Collection, Perth
Purchased 1989
Reproduced courtesy of Warmun Art Centre

Yvonne Koolmatrie freed her imagination and breathed life into fantastical woven articulations that are her trademark. I really like her sculpture. Especially the Bi-plane that she discovered a coiled-weave monoplane. I felt the embrace of freedom in the sky. Exquisite techniques and lovable modelling caught my eyes. It's wonderful!

Yvonne Koolmatrie with her sculptures

Representative Works - Yvonne Koolmatrie

Bi-plane 1994Berri, South Australia, Australia
Object, Fibre object, woven sedge grass
Technique: Ngarrindjeri coiled basketry
50.0 h x 113.0 w x 135.0 d cm