LIN ONUS

Lin Onus grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Deepdene and strengthened his Aboriginality among the people of Arnhem Land. His art represents a unique reconciliation of Indigenous and Non-indigenous cultures, an eclecticism so widespread that he said he belonged to the 'Bower Bird School'. Born of a Scottish mother and a father of the Yorta Yorta people, the blend of Celt and Aboriginal gave him a multicultural background that extended to embrace such diverse influences as Albert Namatjira, Hans Heysen, Eugene von Guérard, and Pop Art. Of Leonardo da Vinci, he said: 'To me Da Vinci is the greatest artist of all time, mainly because of his obsession with reality'.¹ Onus's own realism is spellbinding, drawn as much from Western traditions as Aboriginal clarity and exactitude of vision, of the knowing eye. Its appeal and power lies in its illustrative nature and rich colours, walking a knife-edge between magnificence and kitsch.

Breeark and Ngarak shows a characteristic combination of Aboriginal and Western imagery, totemic and realist. The dots and crosshatching of the stylized background speak one language, while William Cooper or any ornithologist would be proud of the two larger birds. The flight of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo gives it the dominant position, the plumage of the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo being the colours of the Aboriginal flag. The symbolic associations are obvious and reflect something of the humour that enlivens Onus's art. Moreover, there is harmony in the association of Qantas and Australian birds.

1. Lin Onus, taped interview with Donna Leslie, 30 January 1995, quoted by Michael Eather, in Neale, M. et al., Urban Dingo: The Art and Life of Lin Onus 1948-1996, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2000, p. 56.