Possum Dreaming, 1986

LONG JACK PHILLIPUS TKAKAMARRA
Possum Dreaming, 1986
Acrylic on linen canvas
190 x 150 cm

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Artist Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, title Possum Dreaming, 1986. Possum Dreaming tells the story of possum ancestors and their travels in the dream time, the time of creation. The sinuous lines represent the marks of possums tails dragging in the sand. The small comb shapes depict the possums footprints with the direction of the toes revealing that the tracks all emerge from the edges of the painting and travel towards the centre. The three main sets of concentric circles are sites where secret events occurred in the Dreamtime and where ceremonies have been held for thousands of years to celebrate those events. The smaller circles are campsites, each with four men, possum ancestors, depicting, using classic desert iconography by the U-shapes, or men sitting on the ground with legs folded as viewed from above design elements of this contemporary acrylic painting would be identical to those in the myriad of ephemeral sand paintings which the artist’s father and numerous ancestors before him would have used to tell and retell the possum dreaming to successive generations.