Code: ASGS-TK-21219-M

Artist: Tarisse King

Title: ‘My Country’ Coolamon

Medium: Sculpture, Metal, Polish

Size: 60x17x7cm

Year: 2021

* Imagery on the outside of the Coolamon

* Imagery taken directly from an original artwork & etched into metal

With this sculpture Tarisse wanted to translate her ‘My Country’ story into a 3D object. In this case Tarisse’s ‘My Country’ imagery has been transferred onto a metal Coolamon. The imagery is taken directly from one of Tarisse’s paintings by etching into the metal. Then the details are hand welded over this etching to ensure a true translation of Tarisse’s imagery.

The choice to use metal is a reflection on the strength and longevity of the Australian Indigenous culture and the stories passed down over the centuries. The patina is a reflection of the age of the markings and long history of these stories.

My Country Story

Driven to map the country around Katherine, where her ancestors once walked, Tarisse depicts land formations such as rivers, rock holes, billabongs, shelters, tracks and food sources.  In this series, Tarisse visually explores the way her ancestors interacted and lived with the environment.

Tarisse composes traditional Aboriginal iconography in sharp white lines, circles, arcs and dots often upon a single colour canvas to create a bold aesthetic that has a foot in the contemporary art aesthetic and the traditional.  Song lines that ancestors once walked run across the canvas in different directions, the spaces created by this are filled with concentric circles representing different family clans or ‘life forces’, symbols for food and shelter.  Well balanced, the canvas has a graphic look and a contemporary feel, indicative of Tarisse’s ability to make the ancient appear new.