Patapan Art: RMIT's "Garnkiny: Constellations of Meaning" and stitching madly.

I have been very busy with my own work lately, trying to get things finished before my upcoming trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, but I managed to squeeze in a trip to the RMIT Gallery, to see the exhibition "Garnkiny:Constellations of Meaning", with work by Gija artists of Western Australia. The works themselves were very impressive and because of my particular liking for natural ochre and pigments, I started by preferring these ones:

Rusty Peter's "Gooragawarriny Garnikynoong" ("The Two Mothers of the Moon")

Mabel Juli's "Gooragam Garniky" (The Mothers of the Moon):

Phyllis Thomas' "Garnkiny Mende-Menden"("Moon at Mende-Menden"):

and Shirley Purdi's "Gija Kinship":

However, I was also taked by the acrylic work in Brian Mudgetell's "Tjintjinjin", of which this is a detail:

Noel Charlie Tjapanangka's acrylic "An Initiation Story: part 3"

Mathew Gill Tjupurrula's print "Moses"

and synthetic polymer paint, "Snake Country (The Fight of the Snakes) "

Bruce Njamme's amazing bright acrylic, "Country at Yagga Yagga":

and the equally bright and striking "Tjatjati", a work using synthetic polymer paint by Mirian Baadjo, of which this is a detail:

Knowing relatively little about the culture of this region, I was also really interested in the captions which explained the background of each piece of work and the visual slides telling the stories.

However, I was not overly impressed by the organisation of the space, and the focus of some of the guests on drinking in the main room and therefore blocking the access of those who were there to see the art from entering the side galleries, where the work was on show. I thought that this was an unusually badly organised event but I heard that this was typical of most of the opening nights at this gallery. In future, I think I'll avoid opening nights.

Back home, I finished my jumper and was a bit disappointed at its fit, though not the colours. I think some adjustments are in order.

But I liked the outcome of my table runner. I used some of my new and some of my stored printed, dyed, painted, and photocopied cotton fabrics, and joined them onto a wadded backing using variegated threads and machine stitching.

I am also pleased with the travel diary I made using my ecoprinted and rust printed watercolour papers, bound with hemp string. I look forward to filling it during my trip.