Australian Aboriginal Art - Fertility Scene in the Desert

                  Josie Packard's masterpiece sits in my living room, taking pride of place  

   In 2002, during a visit to Sydney's The Rocks, my wife and I found this very outstanding piece of aboriginal art. It depicts a scared ritual, called the aboriginal mating ritual. It is seem from above, and the U designs represent each person sitting down, her legs forming a 'U'. The long sticks represent the holy sticks of the village elder. 

    The art is special because it is done by the artist Josie Packard, who is illiterate. Her signature is a palm print in ink on the reverse of the canvas and there are not brush strokes. There are literally thousands of dot imprints using several dotting tools, hence everything seen is circular. I can imagine her painstainkingly dotting the pieces and using different colours to symbolise the parts of the painting. The fertility ritual is probably carried out somewhere in the Outback (sparse land near the desert) during special occasions.

    The artwork never loses its appeal to me and the people who visit our humble abode.