Medicine Clay | Simone Arnol & Bernard Singleton
9 February - 6 March, 2022
For their first exhibition at Jan Manton Gallery, Simone Arnol (Gunggandji) and Bernard Singleton Jnr (Umpila/Djabugay/Yirrgay) present Medicine Clay (2019-20). This collaborative photographic series presents intimate portraits of three generations of Bernard Singleton Jnr’s family—his father, his niece and himself—each coated in a layer of coarse white clay. Known as medicine clay, this revered material is often used by members of Bernard’s family for the treatment of sore bellies, women’s business, and general wellbeing.
Over this medicine clay, a rich, red ochre has been painted onto each figure in heavy, oily streaks. This ochre is used by Simone and Bernard to represent ancestral connections to Country, and the transfer of knowledge between generations. Its placement is significant to each bearer. Bernard’s father wears a thick layer of ochre over his left hand in reference to matrilineal lines of knowledge, passed onto family members through his wife and their marriage. Stripes of ochre stretch across Bernard’s and his niece’s foreheads, signifying their own responsibilities to learn and pass on this knowledge.
In these photographs, Simone and Bernard seek to create a record of knowledge, rituals and customs to be passed on to coming generations. Quiet and meditative, they convey a sense of intense presence and magnanimity.
