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Fish and Shellfish

Artist Milton Budge (1941)

Datec 2001

Object number00037649

NamePainting

MediumAcrylic on canvas.

DimensionsOverall (Frame): 560 × 1200 × 20 mm, 1.84 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionPainting by Milton Budge titled 'Fish and Shellfish'. The fish are depicted in x-ray style. Each set of different coloured dots, being a clan or mob which form the one central tribe belonging to that area or region. This being a coastal tribe. Language/Group: Ngaku within the Daingatti people Region: Northern New South Wales Community: Cresent Head This work was part of the 2003 Budge exhibition “Messages from the Fringe” (a satellite exhibition for the Sydney Opera House’s 2003 annual Message Sticks program) at the Walkabout Gallery in Leichhardt, Sydney.HistoryMilton Budge was born in 1941 at Kempsey's Burnt Bridge Mission. His painting career began in the late 1980's with the "Kempsey Koori Artists" group. His early paintings depicted life as he saw it on the mission. His naive stylised figures and choice of pastel colours often worked at odds with the content; which in some cases was the harsh reality of mid 20thcentury mission life. His latest pieces show the same style with the stories now being of pre-contact Aboriginal life . In 'Fish and Shellfish' the fish shown from clockwise top left are: 1. Bream 2 .Blackfish 3 .Mullet 4. Whiting 5. Flathead 6. JewF ish 7. Tailor All fish shown by x-ray vision: 1.Two eyes 2. Backbone 3. Internal Organs Four big Abalone (Mutton Fish) shown in each corner.SignificanceThis painting by Milton Budge is part of a body of works that record the history and experience of Indigenous men of urban and regional New South Wales.
These works vary in mediums but all highlight the rich diversity of New South Wales Indigenous artists and their connections and land and family histories. Some recall the loss of this feeling of connection whether it is to traditional lands or a mission settlement. Many mission's and settlements in New South Wales were alongside major
waterways, away from white Australians and others.