aeiou – all of you 2006

NAINA, Clinton (Meriam Mir/Ku Ku)

Registration number

1092424

Artist/maker

NAINA, Clinton (Meriam Mir/Ku Ku)

Title

aeiou – all of you

Production date

2006

Medium

bitumen paint, mixed media on canvas

Dimensions (H x W x D)

152 x 182 cm

Credit line

Purchased, 2006
City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection

Keywords

Clinton Naina (formerly Nain), painting, contemporary art, Indigenous

Summary

This artwork is from a major solo exhibition titled ‘aeoiu’, held at Nellie Castan Gallery in 2006. The vowels – the building blocks of English – represent the vanguard of the invader’s language and its subsequent impact on Indigenous languages. The black is like a blackboard, furthering the metaphor of the missions/missionary and the role of English. The artist has chosen bitumen as the medium, the same material as roads. The white paint is acrylic-based house paint which is why it reacts, portentously, with the oil-based bitumen.