Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters (panel 1)

Artist Helen S Tiernan (born 1952)

Date2017

Object number00055114

NamePainting

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 1810 × 610 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection funded by ANMM Foundation

Terms

DescriptionOne in a series of five painted panels by Helen S Tiernan titled 'Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters'. This panel depicts a of a map of the world in the background with the face of a Maori warrior blowing wind from the top of the upper left corner. Under the warrior, three Australian men dancing in European clothing and under them, a group of Polynesian women dancing in their traditional dress. Based on the conventions and elements of early European sea charts, the painting 'Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters' incorporates a central compass rose, rhumb lines and wind gods in a reconstruction of the Pacific. Combining images of Cook's voyage artists with the mythical, romantic and ridiculous, this vast panorama questions the image of the Pacific brought back to Europe during Pacific Encounters in the 'Age of Discovery'.SignificanceArtist Helen S Tiernan's series of paintings 'Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters' are a significant example of a modern re-interpretation of Pacific history from an Indigenous perspective.