Imants Tillers
White Aborigines (no. 2)
(1983)
255.0 x 380.0 cm
acrylic on 100 canvas boards
Purchased 1983
Conversations with the Collection
Imants Tillers and Holly Farrell
IMANTS TILLERS
White Aborigines (no. 2) 1983 uses the artist’s now well known canvas board system, where pre-made canvasses, in this case 100 of them, are combined to create the overall picture. The background or landscape is created by a repetition of the artist’s hand prints in a limited palette over the entire surface. This method recalls the stenciled hand prints found in rock sites across Australia that testify to Aboriginal ownership of the land.
Two large non Aboriginal figures, inspired German cartoonist Wilhelm Busch, cavort and combust in the middle of the painting. This imagery, in conjunction with the title of the work, invites us to read the work as an ironic comment on our troubled sense of belonging and the ongoing tensions between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
HOLLY FARRELL
Warners Bay High School
24 Rabbits
Collection of Works
See Holly's visual arts process diary at the AGNSW websiteMy artwork is about the introduction of the European rabbit into Australia and its destructive effect it has had our environment. I have examined the issue of preserving, preventing or exterminating introduced species. This is important to me because I sympathise with the rabbits. My work relates to personal choices I have made, such as becoming a vegetarian in support of animal rights; yet, I do also understand the value of preserving the natural landscape and indigenous species. Therefore I am left in conflict, just as the audience is left puzzled by the opinions I have expressed.