burnt shield 2002

Indigenous cultural materials, often housed in national and international institutions, are recurring subjects in Watson’s artistic practice. By using drawn images of these objects in her works, Watson highlights their continued cultural importance, continues conversations about repatriation, and questions the future of these cultural objects if they continue to be housed in non-Indigenous collections, often with incomplete or incorrect information.

In burnt shield 2002 the form of the shield is European in origin; however, the delicate white line work emulates the grooved, fine lined carving technique found on Aboriginal parrying shields from the Central Desert and Western Queensland regions.

Fresh green shoots sprout shortly after land is ‘burnt off’, signalling a time for regrowth and new life in the face of destruction. In this way, the shield form also references the body, and particularly the female reproductive system. The use of burnt Country — ash and charcoal on the earth after a bushfire in Darwin — in preparing the surface of the work signifies fertility and a period of regrowth and renewal.