I do not consider myself a collector. Just someone with a passion and an obsession. Mine is Aboriginal art. Since 1985, when I first visited Australia, I fell in love with the landscape and the art. Art of the central desert region has long fascinated me, and over the years I bought canvasses that caught my attention. I now have over 80 paintings. Some of them are now on display in an exhibition, Contemporary Aboriginal Art: Mapping Land, Representing Country at the Dowd Art Gallery on the campus of the State University of New York at Cortland. I attended the opening reception in late October. It was a strange experience to see works that were always in my private domestic space now displayed to the public on the bright white walls. I was delighted to see people looking at the art and engaging with the paintings. A private compulsion was now widened to a lively community event; it was heartwarming to see the paintings stimulating conversations.
Making public a private obsession; talking about the paintings.
The exhibition was beautifully done, the result of hard work by Professor Kathryn Kramer who curated the exhibition, Jaroslava Prihodova who hung the paintings, Tony De Rado who designed a stunning catalog and Bryan Thomas who is the Interim Director of the Dowd Gallery.
The exhibition is open from October 24 to December 16.
