Judy Watson

Australian indigenous art has a broad reputation as being innovative; but few artists are as intriguing as Judy Watson. While her work takes its inspiration from the land and traditions of the Waanyi culture, Watson distils her distinctive stained canvases into poetic abstractions that have the power to speak to all.

Margie West comments: “Even though the messages in her work are often tough, they are conveyed in an almost subliminal and subtle way, to be discovered in the layering of the surface and the imagery that floats mirage-like on it.”

Download the memory scars, dreams and gardens catalogue essay (13 November to 12 December 2020) by Katina Davidson or the roomsheet.

bronze magic, vessel with bones 2008
Ochre, pigment, ink, carbon, acrylic on canvas
211 x 147.5 cm
heart shield 2008
Ochre, pigment, watercolour, gouache, pastel, acrylic on canvas
211.5 x 147.5 cm
kaikoura 2008
Pigment and acrylic on canvas
196 x 106 cm
in the shadows of goya, asmodea and la novillada 2008
Ochre, pigment, acrylic, carbon on canvas
211 x 147.5 cm
in the shadows of goya, el resguarrdo de tabacas 2008
Pigment, acrylic, carbon on canvas
196 x 106cm
kokowai, pounamu and centurian bronze 2008
Ochre, watercolour, charcoal, acrylic on canvas
197.5 x 106 cm
head of the jackal, anubis 2008
Pigment, acrylic, carbon on canvas
195.5 x 106 cm
mt cooee 2005
Carbon ink and acrylic on canvas
194 x 142 cm