Dennis Nona
Artist Statement
Dennis Nona is widely acknowledged a sone of the most important Torres Strait Islander artists.
Born on Badu Island in 1973 he was taught as a young boy the traditional craft of woodcarving. this skill has been developed and translated ito the incredibly intricate and beautiful linocuts, etchings and sculptures created by the artist since the commencement of his art practice in 1989.
Nona pioneered the development of the highly intricate linocut prits unique to the Torres Strait Islands. He has documented, in a vivid visual form, the ancient myths and legends of his island and the wider Torres Strait that had previously been transmitted by oral story telling and dance.
He employs a more graphic method of strytelling. Instead of a work based on a single image like that of the traditional Torres Strait Islander art, he introduced many, folloeing what was being done by mainland Aboriginal artists. In this way he could relate an entire narrative in one single work with all the characters and events in one image. To link the work he introduced a matrix of delicately lined clan patterning, so binding the entire story to its place of origin. Since this breakthrough, the intricate designs and bold figurative imagery created by printmakers like Nona, have given local culture a vital reinvigoration. Today they are central to a cultural revival and elders now refer to them to help them relate ancient stories to others. These were fast fading from common knowledge and being lost to new generations of islanders suffering the cultural dislocation often imposed by the impact of European settlement and influence.
The attraction of Nona's work lies in the way he has drawn on the rich traditions of Torres Strait Islander carving which he has transferred to linocut and more recently etchings and sculpture. Far more flexible in their visual reference and expensive means than that of traditional work from the Torres Strait Islands, his works are highly skilled compositions. Each work expresses a powerful materiality that comes from exquisitely crafted hand made lines which are often coloured before printing.