Diamond
2015
from the Ash on me series 2015
Medium
etching and aquatint
Measurements
20.6 × 20.5 cm (plate) 41.0 × 40.2 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2015
© Courtesy of the Artist & Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney
Gallery location
Gallery 4
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
The six etchings that form the Ash on Me series each feature found op-shop ceramic and metal ashtrays decorated with kitsch images of Aboriginal people and culture. Each ashtray features a different depiction of Aboriginal people, with the original purpose of the decoration clear: a place for cigarette butts to be stubbed out on. Although such objects belong to a different era, they reflect the mass production and use (or misuse) of images of Aboriginal people and cultural objects as icons of Australia today. These works encourage the viewer to question stereotypical conceptions of Aboriginal people and identity.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Sydney, New South Wales
Edition
ed. 1/7
Inscription
inscribed in pencil l.l.: 1/7
inscribed in pencil l.c.: ‘Diamond’
inscribed in pencil l.c.r. tony ALBERT 2015
Accession Number
2015.446.4
Department
First Nations Australia