Dale Hunter / My Ancestor Myself (DH-23)

In Dale’s words: I am an identified aborigine who was born in Melbourne Victoria in 1959. My family are from the Wiradjuri mob in NSW. I would like to acknowledge that my art respects the power of the ancestral beings, expresses individual and group identity, and the relationship between people and the land.

Dale Hunter who was born in Victoria in 1959, her family are from the Wiradjuri mob in NSW and she currently lives in Tasmania. Dale has a Fine Art Degree from the University of Tasmania, she also has a teaching degree as well as a Graduate Certificate in TESOL. She currently works as a school teacher at Cape Barren Island Aboriginal School.

Dale says that painting the Aboriginal image on Tasmanian Blackwood creates a cultural connection with our mother the earth. The Blackwood manifests a hologram effect transcending time and place. Representational paintings of the indigenous body is the fundamental theme in her work.

Dale’s husband mills the timber from their 350 acre property near St Helens in Tasmania. He resurrects dead Blackwood trees and turns them into a truly beautiful sculptural piece. After using acrylics to paint the wood, each piece is then varnished several times to enhance the natural grain of the Blackwood. Forged metal hangers are created individually for each unique and collectable piece of art.

The Blackwood, which has absorbed the passing of time, actively participates in the transmission of myths and symbolism. Dale’s artwork moves away from traditional dot painting.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
• Fine Art Degree from the University of Tasmania. Major Art Theory – Aboriginal Art Practice and Culture
• Bachelor of Teaching, Deakin University
• Graduate Certificate Teaching English Second Other Language (TESOL), University of Wollongong
• Currently employed at St Helens District High School as a teacher

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS
• Solo exhibition University Tasmania Plimsoll Gallery, 2005
• Assistant to Gloria Petyarre and Barbara Weir Art Mob, 2006
• Exhibitor Tasmania Art Fair 2001, 2002, 2003
• Private art teacher 10 years St Helens 2000-2010

I would like to acknowledge that my art respects the power of the ancestral beings, expresses individual and group identity, and the relationship between people and the land.

Aborigines were fierce warriors and gained strength from their ancestral beings. The aborigine digs into his mother the earth attaining knowledge from a power greater than himself. The head and shoulders of his ancestor are seen in his Dreaming. By digging into the earth, he reconnects to himself gaining strength and wisdom to be retold to his mob. The body of his ancestral being would have been revered by his loved ones. It would have been laid out on an elevated wooden platform, covered in leaves and branches and left for many months for the flesh to rot away from the bones. The bones were then collected and painted with red ochre and shared in many ways. Often relatives would carry parts of bones with them, sometimes for a year or perhaps more before being laid to rest in a sacred place. My ancestor myself.

This painting is branded with the number 23 on the back and signed by the artist.

Blackwood in Aboriginal Culture ~ Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon

The fine hard wood of this wattle made strong spear-throwers, boomerangs, clubs and shields in parts of Tasmania and Victoria. Aborigines used to soak the bark in water to bathe painful joints. A powerful analgesic can also be derived from the Blackwood tree. The hard wood was also used to make shields and woomeras, whilst the inner bark was used to make string. The tree’s twigs and its bark were also used to stupefy fish as a way of fishing. Leaves and branches were often placed in fishing areas thus stunning the fish and making then a very easy catch.