Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, his work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle categorisation. 

Recognisably by Onus, ‘Burnt Earth’ is a unique screenprint created in collaboration with printmaker Shaike Snir at Port Jackson Press Australia. Against the paper lies a bed of pebbles, representative of life and death – beneath the churn of water, stones are smoothed into pebbles, eternal, even against flame, but not static. In the centre of the plane is a square of black, representative of the artist’s Aboriginal identity. At once, the landscape, time and the complexity of identity are evoked; these stones have more than two sides. 

Detailed, multi-coloured and impeccably composed, ‘Burnt Earth’ testifies to an artist whose artistic vision was only matched by his activism. Caught between different worlds, Onus wrote in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation in most major Australian collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has.

With excellent provenance, ‘Burnt Earth’ is a unique work of art. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, give your collection new life with this beautiful work. 
 

Lin ONUS (1948 - 1996)
'Burnt Earth' 1996
screenprint on paper
Edition of 1
Image Size: 50 x 75 cm
Dimensions: 71 x 101 cm
Signed: Embossed with Lin Onus Estate stamp in lower right hand corner.
Comes with Letter of Provenance.

Unique experimental print produced by Lin Onus. Excellent provenance, direct from the master printmaker Shaike Snir at Port Jackson Press Australia.

Similar unique print in the collection of the NGA, Pebbles with Black Rectangle, Accession Number: 2019.756

Condition is Excellent.

(c) Lin Onus / Copyright Agency