Aboriginal Artist - Lindsay Bird Mpetyane

AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL ART
Outback Alive

*Lindsay Bird Mpetyane* *- "Three Stages of Initiation"*

10' 8" x 6' 2" Acrylic/Canvas OA700	*(detail)*

Lindsay has represented the different stages from boyhood to manhood in this painting:

The first stage is represented in purple - Men and boys (the U shapes) are out at various sites on the artist's land being taught to hunt and survival techniques.

The middle section represents the actual initiation - Men and boys prepare for ceremony by painting their bodies with traditional ochres. They dance, sing and perform the Corroboree with spears (/), shields (0) and hooked boomerangs (7). The Red background represents the blood spilt during the initiation where scaring or tribal cuts are done to the body.

The third stage, Yellow, represents the older men taking the boys, now men, to various sacred sites where they explain the Dreamtime stories which can only be known by the initiated.

Back to Lindsay Bird Mpetyane Main Page