Two worlds: A biographical journey
Artist: Michael Eather, Australia b.1963 / Collaborating artists: Joanne Currie Nalingu, Gunggari people, Australia b.1964 / Kumantje Jagamara, Warlpiri/Luritja people, Australia c.1946-2020 / Lin Onus, Yorta Yorta people, Australia 1948-96 / Christopher Hodges, Australia b.1954 / Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Anmatyerre people, Australia c.1932-2002 / Karen Casey, Palawa people, Australia 1956-2021 / Rick Roser, Jinbara people, Australia b.1955 / Simon Turner, Australia b.1972 / Ruby Abbott Napangardi, Luritja people, Australia b.c.1953 / Barbara Weir, Anmatyerre/Alyawarr peoples, Australia b.c.1945 / Laurie Nilsen, Mandandanji people, Australia 1953-2020 / Stephen Gawulku, Kunibidji people, Australia b.unknown / Bianca Beetson, Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) people, Australia b.1973 / Two worlds (detail) 1995-97 / Synthetic polymer paint, natural pigments, shellac, photocopied images on 75 boards with velvet curtains and rods 15 panels: 305 x 60cm (each); 300 x 956cm (installed); 2 curtains: 325 x 335cm, 325 x 340cm; 4 curtain rods: 3 x 75cm (each) / Purchased 1997 with funds from an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation and from a special allocation from the Queensland Government. Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery's Centenary 1895-1995 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists / View full image
Two worlds 1995–97 by Australian artist Michael Eather, with contributions from 13 other artists (Joanne Currie Nalingu, Kumantje Jagamara, Lin Onus, Christopher Hodges, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Karen Casey, Rick Roser, Simon Turner, Ruby Abbott Napangardi, Barbara Weir, Laurie Nilsen, Stephen Gawulku, and Bianca Beetson), is a monumental painting of 75 boards showing a map of the world. It is a biographical narrative of a journey which is mapped between Launceston in Tasmania, Maningrida in Northern Territory and Brisbane in Queensland, across two worlds, an echoing of Eather's physical and cultural journeys.
Watch | In Eather's own words
Two maps of the world merge revealing a land mass submerged below varying veneers of shellac intermingled with greens, blues and ochre. The surface is translucent and rich, edges and images dissolve and reappear and the whole is enlivened by an array of floating motifs and marks.
Eather's ever-present stingray, a metaphoric symbol of self, winds its way across the surface connecting the parts as does the matching worm design, given to him by Desert artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.
This is a very personal visual diary where Eather has merged his north-south journey from Tasmania in 1983, when he was 21 years old, to Arnhem Land, and back to Brisbane where he eventually settled. Two worlds is about collaboration, journeys, collective experiences, interrupted histories and overlapping territories.
Each of the 13 collaborators have intersected with Eather‘s life in some way. The map boards were supplied to them at various points around the country, affirming past connections where each artist inscribed their own marks on these panels and returned them to Eather to collate into a journal of his explorations.
Artist: Michael Eather, Australia b.1963 / Collaborating artists: Joanne Currie Nalingu, Gunggari people, Australia b.1964 / Kumantje Jagamara, Warlpiri/Luritja people, Australia c.1946-2020 / Lin Onus, Yorta Yorta people, Australia 1948-96 / Christopher Hodges, Australia b.1954 / Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Anmatyerre people, Australia c.1932-2002 / Karen Casey, Palawa people, Australia 1956-2021 / Rick Roser, Jinbara people, Australia b.1955 / Simon Turner, Australia b.1972 / Ruby Abbott Napangardi, Luritja people, Australia b.c.1953 / Barbara Weir, Anmatyerre/Alyawarr peoples, Australia b.c.1945 / Laurie Nilsen, Mandandanji people, Australia 1953-2020 / Stephen Gawulku, Kunibidji people, Australia b.unknown / Bianca Beetson, Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) people, Australia b.1973 / Two worlds 1995-97 / Synthetic polymer paint, natural pigments, shellac, photocopied images on 75 boards with velvet curtains and rods 15 panels: 305 x 60cm (each); 300 x 956cm (installed); 2 curtains: 325 x 335cm, 325 x 340cm; 4 curtain rods: 3 x 75cm (each) / Purchased 1997 with funds from an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation and from a special allocation from the Queensland Government. Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery's Centenary 1895-1995 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists / View full image
