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.

Judy Watson ‘memory scar, grevillea, mangrove pod (& net)’ 2020, indigo, acrylic, graphite and linen thread on canvas, 224 x 181.5 cm
stitch detail – Judy Watson ‘memory scar, grevillea, mangrove pod (& net)’ 2020
stitch detail – Judy Watson ‘memory scar, grevillea, mangrove pod (& net)’ 2020
Judy Watson ‘unrecorded’ 2020, indigo on cotton and canvas, six strips of fabric: 1. 231 x 25 cm 2. 232 x 25 cm 3. 230.5 x 25 cm 4. 238 x 25 cm 5. 236 x 24.5 cm 6. 231 x 25 cm
Judy Watson ‘memory scar, constellation, bush string’ 2020, indigo, acrylic, chinagraph, graphite and pastel on canvas, 179.5 x 152 cm
Judy Watson ‘memory scar, cotton tree leaf, grass, brachychiton illawarra flame tree pods’ 2020, indigo, acrylic, graphite, pigment and acrylic binder medium on canvas, 180 x 148.5 cm
Judy Watson ‘sky nets’ 2020, acrylic on canvas, 238.5 x 33 cm
Judy Watson ‘spine with grevillea’ 2020, indigo, acrylic and graphite on canvas, 230 x 90 cm