|
Aboriginal desert artists often employ icons to depict people, animals or landscape elements. The icons can have different meanings in different contexts and even in the hands of different artists.
A common motif in desert art is the U-shape, which represents a person. The U is the impression you leave in the sand after sitting down and represents a uniquely human "track". When the U is accompanied by a food bowl (coolamon) and digging stick, it signifies the person is a woman. Most of the Utopian art is by women and about "women's business".
|
In some cases, the "women's business" includes stories about specific traditional foods, such as a bush tomato, yam, bush bananas or various wild berries. In other cases, the artist paints about "awelye", women's ceremonies and associated body paint designs.
|