Bushwoman 

Editor: This is Walter Battiss’s "Bushwoman," an oil painting. The stark figure against the blue backdrop gives it a really striking, almost haunting quality. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The image pulsates with symbolic energy, doesn’t it? The silhouette, so clearly a woman, reminds me of ancient fertility figures. What does her pose and stature suggest to you about how women were perceived at the time it was created? Editor: Hmm, her upward gaze and regal posture almost feel defiant, even if the rendering is somewhat simplified. Curator: Precisely. That upward gaze speaks volumes. Battiss’s engagement with San rock art deeply informed his style. Consider the cultural memory embedded in the form – a kind of visual language resonating through time, consciously or unconsciously. Those lines across the torso are they bindings or markings of power, delineations of her essence? Editor: They could be both, really. Is that part of the naïve art style, ambiguity? Curator: Not necessarily ambiguity but rather stripping away the non-essentials to reveal the spirit. That dish-like object on her head, filled with what looks like berries...what meanings do you perceive? Editor: Nourishment? Knowledge? Maybe even a crown of sorts? Curator: Indeed. Battiss evokes the visual power of these iconic female figures. We read cultural memory in such potent symbols. This, in turn, shapes our present-day understandings. Editor: That's fascinating – it's like a visual echo through history. Thanks for helping me see all those layers! Curator: The pleasure is all mine. The symbolic language of art is a perpetual source of discovery.