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Australian Aboriginal Dot Paintings

Below you will find a selection of Traditional Australian Aboriginal Dot Paintings

                                             by renowned Australian Aboriginal Artist Eddy Harris.

Evidence has shown that the Australian Aboriginals have been in Australia for at least 60,000 years.

Over these many thousands of years Australian Aboriginals have used sticks and Echidna quills or spikes to paint their traditional "dreamtime stories" .

These paintings consist of thousands of "Dots" and done the traditional way, takes the artist many days of dedicated concentration just to "fill in the background."

Whilst the European artist uses an easel, which holds the canvas or painting upright in front of the artist, so that the artist may see both the original subject (such as a landscape) and the easel with the painting or work in progress, at the same time, aboriginal artists usually lay the canvas on the floor, and lying on the floor using their arms to support them, apply "Dots" of various coloured paints to depict a subject which is usually within their mind at the time.

The traditional aboriginal dot paintings usually represent a story, generally regarding hunting or food gathering, and usually have traditional aboriginal symbols imbedded throughout the painting. These symbols, when explained, give a whole new meaning to the painting.

As the Australian Aboriginals never had a written language, these traditional dot paintings are in reality, the aboriginals way of writing a short story, which has not changed for over 50,000 years.

" This painting depicts a Water Bird and a Turtle swimming and hunting in the lower part of the river. The circles shown represent whirlpools. The two long lines with a circles shown either end depict roots of the gum tree with the different coloured reds, yellows and greys showing small rocks in the clear water, and the greens representing the moss and the reeds."

                                                                                                        Eddy Harris

The above close up shows the intricate workings of the traditional aboriginal artwork, with the painting consisting of thousands of "Dots".

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