Bush Hen Dreaming 1999

"Bush Hen Dreaming" by Abie Loy Kemarre is an artwork that pulses with ancestral narratives. The fine dot work builds up to depict the tracks of the bush hen, an important motif for the artist. The circle in indigenous art is never merely a geometric shape; it's a symbol laden with cultural memory. It echoes ancient rites, waterholes, and the cyclical nature of existence itself. Think of its recurrence across cultures - mandalas, labyrinths - all hinting at a universal subconscious yearning for wholeness, a navigation through life's maze. The bush hen tracks, meticulously dotted, recall the labyrinthine paths humans have traced across the earth, etched into the collective unconscious. The rhythmic application of dots suggests not just movement, but the beat of the earth, a primal rhythm connecting us to the dreamtime. It's this emotional residue, this echo of cultural and personal memory, that gives the image its power. The dreamtime is not just a past event, it lives. It has resurfaced and evolved, carrying the emotional weight of memory into the present."