Spirit trapper, bag
2014
Medium
earth pigments, synthetic polymer paint and digital print on tapa (barkcloth), seeds, fibre string
Measurements
80.7 × 34.9 × 3.9 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2015
Gallery location
The Ancient World
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Among the Amam people, spirits of the sick, the dead and even the living can be captured to restore, heal, destroy or create life. Spirit trapper draws on ancestral knowledge to explore reclamation, memory and cultural vitality – forces that have been altered through the impacts of colonisation and religious intervention. This bag is both a vessel and a bridge, seeking to reclaim and restore what has been lost or taken. By merging digital imagery with traditional barkcloth, the work represents a dialogue between the ancestral and the contemporary; a conversation across time, technology and ancestral spirit.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Accession Number
2015.14
Departments
Oceanic Costumes and Textiles / Pacific Art