Bark painting depicting kangaroos in a wood and perspex frame.
This painting on bark depicts two full-sized kangaroos in profile facing each other, the male on the right of the picture and female on the left. Both animals are upright, the outline of each figure is picked out in white on a dark red-brown background. The animals are painted in in the x-ray style which shows the interior of the figure: the spine, eyes and optic nerve. The bodies are segmented and in-filled in black, ochre, brown and white cross hatching or rarrk. The female’s legs are positioned to appear to be kicking upwards into the middle of the male, her tail is positioned to keep her balanced. The angle of the feet of the male, pointing downwards, indicates that he is off the ground or in flight. His tail is slightly curved under his body.
AIATSIS advised that bark painting would have been on the internal side of a temporary shelter roof. Parents would use them to tell children stories, with different layers of meaning that can be accessed at different stage of development. Culture about access to physical and spiritual knowledge. As paintings became older thet are viewed with mroe reverence.
