Artworks
LEFT ON RED
Gone Bush
By Amanda Forward
Taking a deep dive down Ancestry bloodline, Amanda's journey to Australia began in the 1830's, settling in Northam, the line forged a path working the land and learning from locals about the essence of the rugged bush, creating new culture around the outback through colonialism and what that means. Clutching onto the sheer reverence for the teachings and wisdom of First
Nations, how we can explore new ideas through personal experience and share stories from old and new.
The exhibition is a platform for in dulging in the personality of the wild, how we are all apart of it and how it truly feels like a home calling, a swim in the ocean, the dusty breeze skipping across the ridges, the banksia glittered across the Midwest valley, dusty boots chasing cattle, Yamatji Stockmen showing how it's done and Mothers with their hands down in the soil.
The painting collection will continue to grow over the next two seasons.
Let's go Bush
Blood of My Bone' Burn Off
A final send-off for these folky styled paintings, abit of a mixed bag but none the less all apart of the family.
One story that resonated with me deeply and helped shape this collection of paintings is from the very much loved book, "Women Who Run With the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Jungian analyst.
In the story, La Loba, or Lolita is this old woman who lives in the desert, and her sacred task is to collect the bones of wolves that have been scattered and lost. She gathers them one by one, almost like she's piecing together something forgotten or broken from the past. Once she has all the bones of a single wolf put back together into a skeleton, she does something magical, she sings.
As she sings, the bones start to flesh out and eventually the wolf comes back to life, full of vitality, the wolf runs off into the desert, sometimes transforming into a woman herself, symbolizing the rebirth of that wild, instinctive nature, healing wounds from past and connecting back to true nature.
There is a timeless, living wisdom ready to be awakened. It's like the past is giving us the bones, the framework and foundation.. and the present, right now is the representation of the blood, earthing us down to the ground, is what keeps
IS rooted and growing steadily".
Not only this powerful story, but ideas diving into the essence of identity woven through lineage and ancestry. In this collection, Amanda Forward explores how our own paths are shaped by the generations before us, and how threads of folklore, mythology, and cultural storytelling connect our past to our present. Each piece in this exhibition is a reflection on how we inherit and reinterpret the stories of
our ancestors, blending them with our own lived experiences to create something new.
By intertwining personal narratives with universal myths, "Blood of My Bone" invites viewers to reflect on the ways we carry forward the legacy of those who came before us, while forging our own paths.
Selected words from the Artist
'Reflections'
Acrylic on canvas
"Wisdom through ancestral bloodlines, creates the notion that there’s no death, remarkable how we create and make choices inhibiting loved ones from past and present. What a gift.
These figures represent a reflection and empathy, binding connection in relationships, intertwining memories from the deep pasts, hand picking and presenting in the now.
I wanted to strip back the colour palette, not only to escape the unnecessary noise, but to symbolise ‘As Above, So Below’ theory.
A static vibe with ranging depth in the figures, much mystery yet a wanting to express.
Reflecting."
'La Familia'
Acrylic on canvas
ἀγάπη (agápē) from the Greek, is often defined as unconditional, sacrificial love.
Agape is the kind of love that is felt by a person willing to do anything for another, including sacrificing themselves, without expecting anything in return.
Philosophically, agape has also been defined as the selfless love that a person feels for strangers and humanity as a whole. Agape is the love that allows heroic people to sacrifice themselves to save strangers they have never met.