Page 85 - Annual Review 2010

ReVeAL 85
unknown | nepal | Untitled (Cakraman) 19th century | ink and
pigment on paper | 294 x 51cm | purchased 2010 with funds from
the henry and amanda bartlett trust through the queensland art
gallery foundation | collection: queensland art gallery
contemporary pacific art
fiona pardington
five works from
‘ahua: a beautiful hesitation’
series 2010
fiona pardington has been
photographing taonga (‘treasure’ in
m¯aori) for over a decade. she searches
for forgotten museum objects that
were once cherished — such as hei
tiki (neck ornaments) or taxidermied
extinct animals — and deliberately
re-presents them as portraits imbued
with a sense of their past value.
pardington’s 2010 photographic
series ‘ahua: a beautiful hesitation’
features casts made by phrenologist
pierre-marie alexandre dumoutier
during his travels in the pacific in
1837. the complexity of portraiture
in m¯aori culture is touched on in a
m¯aori expression, which translates as,
‘our faces are the living graves of our
ancestors who have departed into
the night’. (see p.101)
asian art pre 1970
unknown, nepal
Untitled (Cakraman)
19th century
Untitled (Cakraman) is a rare
example of a ‘subtle body’ painting,
acquired with the generous support
of the henry and amanda bartlett
trust. it reveals the sophistication of
nineteenth-century nepalese painters
and their engagement with the
spiritual traditions of the himalayan
region. ‘subtle body’ paintings
use a symbolic visual language to
illustrate the internal systems of the
body, including the chakras, which
regulate the flow of energy. paintings
such as this were intended to assist
with meditative practice. through
the fusion of yogic iconography and
mythological symbolism central to
hindu and buddhist philosophies, the
work considers the nature of existence
beyond the self and the subtle
energies that activate the physical
entities we inhabit.