Collection
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art
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Title
Ant Hills
2012
About
Vanessa Splinter is among a small group of artists working with printmaking through Yarrenyty Arltere Artists in Larrapinta Valley town camp on the outskirts of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). She only began working with the centre in 2011, but is already becoming recognised for her distinct prints that explore various aspects of the Central Desert landscape. Splinter often works alongside her mother, Marlene Rubintja, a recognised artist in her own right. This intergenerational approach is central to Yarrenyty Arltere Artists’ success and allows families to work together exchanging stories and history as they work, ensuring cultural information is passed on to younger generations.
Splinter is a young artist with strong connections to the Western Arrernte community around Mparntwe and Gurindji country, further north. In 'Ant Hills' 2012 Splinter has reduced the landscape to a singular element. Ambiguously rendered in a field of brilliant blue the form has an ethereal resonance. Splinter's distinct use of blue is somewhat unexpected in a work relating to the Central Desert, allowing the mundane form of the ant hill to transcend its simplicity.
Details
Date
2012
Materials used
etching, printed in blue ink on paper
Edition
2/15
Dimensions
30.0 x 40.0 cm sheet
Signature & date
Signed bot.c., pencil "Vanessa Splinter". Dated l.r., pencil "2012".
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by the Aboriginal Collection Benefactors' Group 2013
Location
Not on display
Accession number
89.2013

Place
Where the work was made
Alice Springs
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Exhibition history
With our hands we tell our story our way, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Waterloo, 29 Sep 2012–20 Oct 2012
The hills beyond Hermannsburg, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Mar 2014–02 Jun 2014