On the Coast - The Art of Fiona Omeenyo & Rosella Namok

Gallery 2

30 August – 22 October 2019

 

Stinging Rain ya Come by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Stinging Rain ya Come

Jap 015650  |  acrylic on canvas  |  228 x 111 cm

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Evening Rain by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Evening Rain

Jap 015238  |  acrylic on canvas  |  181 x 110 cm

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Passing Down, Watching Over by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Passing Down, Watching Over

Jap 015267  |  acrylic on canvas  |  163 x 101 cm

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We are Sand Beach People by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  We are Sand Beach People

Jap 015069  |  acrylic on canvas  |  222 x 104 cm

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Family Out Fishing by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Family Out Fishing

Jap 015263  |  acrylic on canvas  |  164 x 102 cm

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Stinging Rain at Dawn by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Stinging Rain at Dawn

Jap 015651  |  acrylic on canvas  |  229 x 111 cm

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Strong Connection by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Strong Connection

Jap 015817  |  acrylic on canvas  |  100 x 76 cm

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Family Connecting by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Family Connecting

Jap 015810  |  acrylic on canvas  |  161 x 99 cm

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Waves Out at Sea by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Waves Out at Sea

Jap 015243  |  acrylic on canvas  |  178 x 108 cm

Watching Over the People by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Watching Over the People

Jap 014982  |  acrylic on canvas  |  217 x 104 cm

Unavailable

Journey Along the Coast by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Journey Along the Coast

Jap 015816  |  acrylic on canvas  |  100 x 75 cm

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Travelling from Land to Sea by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Travelling from Land to Sea

Jap 015266  |  acrylic on canvas  |  164 x 101 cm

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Waterfall at Night by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Waterfall at Night

Jap 015258  |  acrylic on linen  |  110 x 84 cm

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Watching Over the Sea by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Watching Over the Sea

Jap 015805  |  acrylic on canvas  |  162 x 98 cm

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Stormy Afternoon by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Stormy Afternoon

Jap 015455  |  acrylic on canvas  |  182 x 110 cm

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Grass Snapper Fishing at Double Stone by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Grass Snapper Fishing at Double Stone

Jap 015801  |  acrylic on canvas  |  162 x 100 cm

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Spirits Protecting Us by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Spirits Protecting Us

Jap 015262  |  acrylic on canvas  |  164 x 102 cm

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Looking for Akul Shells by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Looking for Akul Shells

Jap 015811  |  acrylic on canvas  |  99 x 77 cm

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One Connection One Spirit by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  One Connection One Spirit

Jap 015815  |  acrylic on canvas  |  100 x 76 cm

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Pouring Down by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Pouring Down

Jap 011924  |  acrylic on canvas  |  109 x 88 cm

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Spitting Rain by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Spitting Rain

Jap 012616  |  acrylic on canvas  |  180 x 109 cm

Coming Together by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Coming Together

Jap 015071  |  acrylic on canvas  |  221 x 104 cm

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Stinging Rain – Night Time Fishing by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Stinging Rain – Night Time Fishing

Jap 011927  |  acrylic on canvas  |  181 x 110 cm

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Walking in the Lands by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Walking in the Lands

Jap 015264  |  acrylic on canvas  |  165 x 101 cm

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Bush Fire Rain by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Bush Fire Rain

Jap 015652  |  acrylic on canvas  |  228 x 111 cm

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Bush Tracks by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Bush Tracks

Jap 015642  |  acrylic on canvas  |  111 x 86 cm

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Tracks by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Tracks

Jap 015639  |  acrylic on canvas  |  111 x 86 cm

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Morning Lagoon by Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok  |  Morning Lagoon

Jap 015640  |  acrylic on linen  |  111 x 85 cm

Walking on Country by Fiona Omeenyo

Fiona Omeenyo  |  Walking on Country

Jap 014987  |  acrylic on canvas  |  224 x 104 cm

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Fiona Omeenyo captures the coastal lifestyle of her people living at Lockhart River settlement on Cape York Peninsula in far North Queensland. Her figurative paintings show people at everyday activities, fishing and hunting, gathering together in family groups. It is the close association of the people within the clan groups and of the groups bound to the land that are the main subjects of Fiona’s paintings. The imagery hovers between actual people and spirit figures, as though the thousands of years of activity has remained constant between all the generations in that beach location.

Rosella Namok reveals the look of the beach landscape at Lockhart, the ocean horizon with tropical rain and the changing light during the day. Her paintings are about time and place, the look and feel of the tropics during the Wet season when the afternoon rains come in to ease the heat of the day. Rosella’s landscapes come slowly into focus, we see the blurred layers of beach and sea and sky. Then we start to see the fine distinctions of the horizon and the reflections of the sea on the wet sand or the lines of breakers near the beach.

These two artists evoke their experience as Indigenous residents of a particular coastal landscape and show us their Country and the emotional power of traditional life there.

Exhibition Dates: 30 August to 22 October 2019

Location: Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery, 47 High St Fremantle.

View: Fiona Omeenyo Artworks for Sale
View: Rosella Namok Artworks for Sale

Exhibition Walk Through

With David Wroth

Lockhart River has always been an excellent source for contemporary painting. Over the last twenty years, there has been impressive development of the young artists from that community.

Rosella Namok | Evening Rain

Rosella Namok | Evening Rain | Jap 015238

This exhibition, called On The Coast, has paintings from Rosella Namok and Fiona Omeenyo. Rosella’s sense of that coastal country, right at the North of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, really captures the tropical atmosphere. It captures the rain falling over the ocean. In this exhibition, there are a couple of very big panoramic paintings from Rosella. They’re well over two metres long, and they give a wonderful sweeping sense of the coastal landscape, the rain falling, and the way the colours merge at different times of the day.

Fiona Omeenyo | Watching Over the People

Fiona Omeenyo | Watching Over the People | Jap 014982

The compatibility of the works of these two artists is interesting because all of Fiona’s works are figurative. We’ve become accustomed, over several of her exhibitions, to these beautiful figures. They feel like the ancestor or spiritual images of her people. They are also images of Fiona’s family doing everyday activities on the coast. They might be fishing or collecting shells on the beach. Some paintings show people gathering in family groups for meals, or out searching for food. There’s always a sense of the family unit, that’s the dynamic of the community.

Fiona Omeenyo | Family Connecting

Fiona Omeenyo | Family Connecting | Jap 015810

The colour use that Fiona Omeenyo applies to her paintings has its own dynamic. She often uses highly contrasting rich colours. These colours give that extra appeal to the whole structure.

Rosella Namok | Bush Fire Rain

Rosella Namok | Bush Fire Rain |Jap 015652

These paintings are exhibited in Gallery 2. It is a smaller space than we have used for previous exhibitions of Lockhart River paintings. The effect of these powerful works hanging together is exciting. There’s compatibility even though one artist focuses on landscape, and the other is focused on figures. The two artists together make a fantastic show.