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A common source of imagery of these artists is the coral sea which contains the vital foods that sustain the people of the Torres Straits including dugong, turtle, edible fish, crayfish and the beautiful features of the reef like corals, trochus shells and conches. The artists are acutely aware of the fragile nature of their environment and incorporate this theme in their work. Billy Missi’s print Dhangal Um - Araiak which was highly commended in the 2000 National Heritage Art Award is a fitting example. The breeding grounds of the dugong, and their interconnectedness, is depicted as a grandfather and father ponder whether they will remain to sustain the next generation. David Bosun’s image of a beautiful crayfish with its intricate background design is named Dying Industry. Tales of the days of commercial pearling and the luggers now no longer seen in the islands 26 and sea going outriggers, now largely replaced by aluminium runabouts, are an inspiration along with the many exotic flowers, trees and birds like hibiscus, frangipani or tropical fruits and the Torres Strait pigeon native to these islands.

The backgrounds to the figurative imagery are also full of symbolic meaning. The open weave of traditional baskets, as in Victor Motlop’s Battle During Trading; the sacred clan designs of shark tooth or crocodile skin and the incredibly intricate patterning of tidal movements through the Straits. 27

Laurie Nona, one of the most recent Badu islanders to attend the Cairns TAFE course that his cousin Dennis completed ten years earlier, demonstrates the meaning in this decoration minnarral in a way that is a fitting metaphor for the renaissance in the production of Torres Strait islander material culture.

Every line cut in to the block holds symbolic meaning. Amidst the rush of the tide he portrays the core of the old traditions in the series of lines that close ever smaller around a circle which represents the continuing and surviving heart of the islands and their unique cultures. 28

Adrian Newstead

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DENNIS NONA CURRENT SOLO EXHIBITION

Sesserae: New Works by Dennis Nona

Paris, London, Sydney, Brisbane

Dennis Nona is widely acknowledged as one of, if not the most, important living Torres Strait Islander artist.

This exhibition of installations, limited edition linocuts, etchings and cast bronze sculptures showcases the artist's most recent work.

PARIS
The Australian Embassy
6 April - 8 June, 2006

LONDON
Rebecca Hossack Gallery
35 Windmill Street,
LONDON (Dates TBA)

SYDNEY
31 Lamrock Avenue
BONDI BEACH, NSW
30 March - 16 April, 2006

BRISBANE
Dell Gallery, Queensland College of Art
BRISBANE, QLD
3 June - 10 July 2005

OTHER EXHIBITION VENUES
Other Australian and overseas venues and dates to be announced.

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