Mission brown - Mission dog
Clinton NAIN: artist
Mission brown – Mission dog represents the stark lived reality of many Indigenous people who were forced to leave their homelands to live on missions. The colour of the acrylic house paint – Mission Brown – evokes the dull, lifeless shade of mission houses and humpies, and mission life. Aboriginal people were literally and figuratively ‘fenced in’ on missions, and the jagged, crudely drawn fence on the edges of the canvas speaks of colonisation and the sharp divides drawn between mission dwelling Indigenous residents and the outside, predominantly white world. The dogs depicted on the canvas, while missing ears or legs, are nonetheless standing upright, ready to fight. This is a symbol and acknowledgement of the strength of Aboriginal people who sought to maintain links to family and culture while being made to adopt another group’s values.
Title
Mission brown - Mission dog
Artist/Maker and role
Clinton NAIN: artist
Date
2001
Medium
acrylic house paint on canvas
Measurements
120. x 94 cm
Credit line
Purchased 2005
© Clinton Nain, 2001
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
2005/0148