New Beginnings - Naomi Hobson Solo

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY presents

New Beginnings Naomi Hobson Solo Exhibition

1 Jun – 31 August 2018

Online Exhibition

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.

c o n t e m p o r a r y

i n d i g e n o u s

a r t

Leo Falls; Naomi’s Country Source: © Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

Naomi Hobson Painting on the Verandah - Up In The Hills Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

Naomi Hobson Source: © Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

Naomi HOBSON Birth Date Place of Birth Language Skin/Clan

1978 Coen, Far North Queensland Kaantju/Umpila Yikan (after the Hoop Pine Trees)

Naomi Hobson is a Visual Artist who resides on the banks of the riverbeds her grandparents were born. Her residence is an old tin shed that was once her village church. Her colourful abstract compositions act as a link between individuality and a shared identity.

Her continual inspiration is the vast traditional lands of her ancestors surrounding the town of Coen in Queensland and her culture. More recently, Naomi is further inspired by the richness of cultural diversity she witnessed first-hand while exploring village life, rural farmlands and the organised urban chaos throughout South East Asia.

Coen is a small township of 300 people at the bottom of the McIlwraith Ranges (part of the Great Dividing Range) surrounded by the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, rainforest and open wooded country, with many river systems that snake down to the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef. The local clans include Kaantju, Umpila, LamaLama, Ayapathu, Wik Mungkan and Olkola. This landscape has provided inspiration for Naomi’s paintings.

I paint in my own personal space where I feel most comfortable including my back veranda, in the dry river beds, on the banks of my childhood fishing places as well as at the camp sites that my families have lived and spent time for thousands of years. I will take time to look at the miniature things, the tiny little things that nature hides.

The landscape of Coen is also imbued with a marked political history. Since European settlement Aboriginal people have maintained a connection to their country through working on pastoral properties. Hobson’s grandfather was employed as a stockman for a European family, while other local indigenous people worked as farmhands (cooking, cleaning, gardening, baby-sitters) for no financial reward. Further, Hobson’s family have been active in indigenous land rights and reform movements in the effort to return traditional lands and on social and economic reforms to her Cape York community of Coen. Through her art, Hobson continues her family tradition of political and social engagement. Every brushstroke expresses the innate embeddedness of cultures and country in her paintings. However, this specific link to place is brought about through a keen sense of her own individuality.

My aboriginality is what grounds me. Through art I get to freely express all of this. I can share my creative freedoms in a contemporary way.

My style also reflects my individuality... I want my work to tell my stories in an innovative way, I want to introduce new work, to maintain a point of difference, I am wary to re-define and not recycle.

While Hobson is quick to point out she has been exploring her art practise since her teenage years, in 2007 Hobson commenced her journey as an emerging artist.

In 2013, Naomi Hobson had her first solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, which was opened by The Honourable Tony Burke MP, Member for Watson, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities & Minister for the Arts, and Noel Pearson, Lawyer, Academic, Land Rights activist and Founder of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. The sell-out exhibition, titled I am Yikan (an exhibition exploring self-identity) was held from 4 June – 28 June. This body of work introduced the extent of Cape York’s extreme shades of brightness and colour and her own capability of layered colour combinations.

Every year since 2013, Hobson has held a solo exhibition, exhibited in many group shows including overseas, been a regular finalist in art awards (Finalist in National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards 2014, 2015, 2016) throughout Australia including Winner of the 39th Alice Spring Arts Prize. Hobson has featured in numerous arts magazines and has established herself as an Artist.

Hobson’s art work has been acquired by institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

In 2018, Hobson holds her first solo overseas exhibition at ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Collections Araluen Art Collection, Alice Springs, NT, Australia Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Artbank Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Macquarie University Art Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Stuartholme School, Toowong, QLD, Australia.

US Consul General, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

International Education Services, Indigenous Art Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Bertrand Estrangin Collection, Brussels, Belgium.

Leeuwin Estate Collection, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

Viva Energy Collection, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Noel Pearson Collection, Australia.

Honourable Tony Burke MP Collection, Australia.

Honourable Tony Abbott MP Collection, Australia.

Honourable Alan Tudge MP Collection, Australia.

Dame Quentin Bryce Collection, Australia.

Cairns Regional Council Collection, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Awards 2017

2016

2015 2014

2013

Finalist, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery.

Highly Commended, (Malkarti Poles - Ceramics) Emerging Art Awards, CIAF 2017.

WINNER, 39th Alice Spring Prize: National Contemporary Art Award.

Finalist, 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Finalist, Geelong Contemporary Art Prize.

Finalist, Len Fox Painting Award.

Finalist, 32nd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Finalist, Gold Coast Art Prize.

Finalist, 31st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Finalist, Gold Coast Art Prize.

Solo Exhibitions 2017

2016 2015 2014

2013

Time and Place: Naomi Hobson - Art Mob Aboriginal Fine Art, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

Naomi Hobson - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Kanichi – On Top People - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Ngaachi Ngunama – Story Place - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Seven Sisters and the Bonefish Story - Depot II Gallery represented by Alcaston Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

I am Yikan - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Ngaachi Paapa – My Mother’s Country - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2018 San Francisco Tribal & Textile Art Fair: Art of Asia, Africa, Oceania and the

Americans, San Francisco, California, USA.

Mixed Blood – Contemporary Indigenous Cultural Expression - Tanks Art Centre,

Cairns, QLD Australia.

2017 The Extractive Frontier: Mining for Art - Castlemaine, VIC, Australia.

Time and Tide - Alcaston Gallery as part of the Art+Climate=Change2017

Festival, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair - Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns, QLD,Australia,

represented by Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Sydney Contemporary, represented by Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Australasian Painters 2007 – 2017: Artist Profile 10th Anniversary - Orange

Regional Gallery & Orange Regional Museum, Orange, NSW, Australia.

2016 Provenance Does Matter – the Collector’s Exhibition - Alcaston Gallery,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

The 39th Alice Spring Prize Exhibition, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.

DENFAIR - Melbourne Exhibition Centre, represented by Alcaston Gallery,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Provenance Does Matter – Living with Contemporary Art - Alcaston Gallery at

Gallery 369, Bendigo, VIC, Australia.

All About Art - Alcaston Gallery at Depot Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

33rd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum

and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Geelong Contemporary Art Prize - Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC, Australia.

2016 Len Fox Painting Award - Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum,

Castlemaine, VIC, Australia.

Kinship, Country & Women’s Australian Indigenous Art - International Education

Services, Indigenous Art Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2015 Goma Q - Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane,

QLD, Australia.

Out of Queensland: New Indigenous Textiles - Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns,

QLD, Australia.

32nd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum

and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Sydney Contemporary 15 - Carriage works, represented by Alcaston Gallery,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

All About Art: Brisbane - White Canvas Gallery, represented by Alcaston Gallery,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

ArtNow Far North Queensland - Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

2014 Masterpiece London 2014 - South Grounds, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, UK.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair - Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns, QLD,

Australia, represented by Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

31st Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum

and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Ngaachi Paapa – My Mother’s Country, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2013 Ngampula Kuunchi – We are family, Lockhart River Art Group - Emerge Art Space,

Inglewood, WA, Australia.

Kinship – A Celebration of Fine Art from Far North Queensland Indigenous Art

Centres - Tank Art Centre, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Gold Coast Art Prize - Gold Coast City Gallery, Surfer Paradise. QLD, Australia.

2012 Lockhart River Art - Art Atrium, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair - Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Land and Water/Ancient and Modern: Contemporary Paintings from Lockhart

River - Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA. 2009 Some of Us - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Taralinga - Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Smith and Hall, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Australian and Oceanic Art Gallery, Port Douglas, QLD, Australia.

2008 Black Roots - Kick Arts Gallery, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Arimidale Cultural Art Fair - Armidale, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Nesbitt River; Naomi’s Country Source: © Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

Naomi HOBSON Up In The Hills Acrylic on Linen 210 x 220cm NH201806004

The hill country magnifies and specifically identifies to me, the seasonal turnover of life. The country dries off but it never dies off.

Naomi HOBSON Wild Lagoon Acrylic on Linen 210 x 220cm NH201806005

This work depicts the abundance of life and colour adorning the wild lagoon on my country. I am reflecting this through layering and creating an illusory transparency that invites imagination of what is above and below the water.

Naomi HOBSON Blue Reef At Night Acrylic on Linen 210 x 210cm NH201806006

Its colour and life is constantly changing. There is always a different light, a different shade, another colour. It’s as though every night another mystery heightens its’ wonder and every night the reef has another new story.

Naomi HOBSON Flood Plain Acrylic on Linen 210 x 210cm NH201806007

What looks like an empty deserted place one day becomes flooded totally abundant and full of competing colonies of migrating birds the next. A spectacle of colour and movement. A stunning, vast system with life rushing through the veins of the land.

Naomi HOBSON Hidden In The Grass Acrylic on Linen 150 x 100cm NH201806008

A depiction of a childhood memory. The feeling of being hidden and being momentarily transported to a parallel place. You are part of the world of bugs and insects here.

Naomi HOBSON Sunday On The Reef Acrylic on Linen 150 x 100cm NH201806009

These are my favourite days. The clearest light, smooth tropical waters, shoals of fish flashing past, but absolutely defined by the soft golden glow of the sand islands.

Everything is in sharp focus.

Naomi HOBSON Sea Rocks 1 Acrylic on Linen 100 x 100cm NH201806001

Salty plants and a micro world of sea creatures live here, depicted by the seemingly chaotic arrangement of prominent shapes. The overlay of shape and colour reminds me of the symbiotic relationships between so many living things in such a small space.

Naomi HOBSON Sea Rocks 2 Acrylic on Linen 100 x 100cm NH201806002

Salty plants and a micro world of sea creatures live here, depicted by the seemingly chaotic arrangement of prominent shapes. The overlay of shape and colour reminds me of the symbiotic relationships between so many living things in such a small space.

Naomi HOBSON Sea Rocks 3 Acrylic on Linen 100 x 100cm NH201806003

Salty plants and a micro world of sea creatures live here, depicted by the seemingly chaotic arrangement of prominent shapes. The overlay of shape and colour reminds me of the symbiotic relationships between so many living things in such a small space.

SELECTED STOCKROOM WORKS

Naomi HOBSON Wattle Season Acrylic on Linen 190 x 190cm nh20131006

Naomi HOBSON Reef Outside Stoney Acrylic on Linen 138 x 90cm nh20131002

Naomi HOBSON Coen in December Acrylic on Linen 88 x 90cm nh20130503

Naomi HOBSON Bally Hill on the Coast Acrylic on Linen 90 x 90cm nh20131003

Naomi HOBSON December Acrylic on Linen 90 x 90cm nh20131004

Naomi HOBSON Untitled Acrylic on Linen 90 x 91cm nh20131008

Naomi Hobson with Two Malkarti Clay Poles Source: © Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

Peach Lagoon; Naomi’s Country Source: © Photo Courtesy of Naomi Hobson

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For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.