Oops! Sorry!!


This site doesn't support Internet Explorer. Please use a modern browser like Chrome, Firefox or Edge.

Our Sales Gallery

Aboriginal Animal Art

Aboriginal Animal Art paintings and carvings

What Is Aboriginal Animal Art?

Aboriginal Animal Art paintings and carvings are of various animals indigenous to the area the Aboriginal artist was born in. These animals can be a life study or stylised. They are however done in a style which is solely the domain of the Aboriginal artist.

This style is not only particularly related to an artist but the region in which he/she comes from.

Someone from Arnhem land might paint a Kangaroo sitting but in a style that shows the animals insides as well as the outside of the animal, fish, bird, or dream time spirit.

The method used to paint the animal would very because artists from Arnhem land paint in a style called rarrk and artists from the desert would paint most likely in a dot painting style. No matter what the style if it is a bird, fish, reptile, mammal, or amphibian it is Aboriginal Animal Art.

It could be done on bark with ochre or on canvas with acrylic paints. A dot painter from the desert would show the animal completely different but there would be no mistake that you are looking at the kangaroo.

Most Aboriginal artists repaint the same motif again and again as they are the keepers and tellers of the sacred stories related to the images depicted in the painting.

This is given at birth and is called their totemic relationship.This does not mean that they copy the same painting again and again as no two paintings are ever exactly the same but the story told by the painting will be the same because of their cultural obligations to continue retelling a particular story over and over again in order to prevent it being lost in time.

Artists from the desert do not paint creatures from the sea or rivers and the artists from the wet areas paint only about what is in their backyard or surrounding area.

These lovely Animal Art paintings come from all regions and are a delight to own if you like animals as they bring a new dimension to understanding the animals in our world.