PAINTING
The artists commenced painting in 2001 following a workshop initiated by Darwin gallerist Karen Brown. Soon after, some of the women started to paint their weavings – fish-nets, dilly bag stitches, sun mats and coil baskets – effectively transforming 3 dimensional fibre work into 2 dimensional acrylic designs.
The men painted the designs traditionally placed upon cultural articles such as didgeridus, clap sticks and spears.
Both men and women paint the art program’s namesake – durrmu. Durrmu translates as dot, and refers to the dots painted onto the body during ceremonies.
Today, each artist has developed their own unique set of designs and techniques.
Glossary for painting titles:
durrmu – dot
syaw – fish-net
fi – merrepan twine
image: Patsy Marfura, Fi, 2007, acrylic on linen, 150 x 150cm, copyright Durrmu Arts
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