For their exhibition Judy Watson & Helen Johnson: the red thread of history, loose ends, Judy Watson, a Waanyi woman based on Jagera/Yuggera and Turrbal Country of Meanjin/Brisbane and Helen Johnson, a second-generation immigrant of Anglo descent based in Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country in Naarm/Melbourne, have each developed new works that explore the significance of family and motherhood, the importance of matrilineal lineage, and the tensions between individualism and connectedness. In this conversation with Hannah Mathews (Senior Curator, MUMA) and Melissa Ratliff (Curator – Research, MUMA), they will discuss their individual and Ancestral cultural experiences of living in Australia, and how they are reflected in their practices and working methodologies.
Judy Watson & Helen Johnson: the red thread of history, loose ends is a Know My Name project and part of The Balnaves Contemporary Series, presented at MUMA from 10 September – 12 November 2022.
Helen Johnson is a second-generation immigrant of Anglo descent based in Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country in Naarm/Melbourne. Johnson’s practice is concerned with how painting can be used as a means of addressing and reflecting on aspects of cultural identity in an open—as opposed to declarative—way. Though grounded in figuration, the artist’s approach to painting diverges in search of pluralism and openness, where the privilege of the subject is challenged. For Johnson, painting is a space where seemingly incontestable things are constantly being reconsidered and put into new relations with other things, where slippage is always present.
Judy Watson was born in Mundubbera, Queensland, and her Aboriginal matrilineal family is from Waanyi country in north-west Queensland. Watson’s process evolves by working from site and memory, revealing Indigenous histories and following lines of emotional and physical topography that centre on particular places and moments in time. Spanning painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and video, her practice often draws on archival documents and materials—such as maps, letters and police reports—to unveil institutionalised discrimination. Watson has exhibited extensively since the 1980s. She co-represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale and won the Works on Paper Award at the 23rd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award in 2006. Her work is included in significant Australian and international collections, including all Australian state institutions; the National Gallery of Australia; the Tokyo National University of Technology; the Taipei Fine Arts Museum; the British Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia/Tate UK. Watson is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University and was awarded an honorary doctorate in art history by the University of Queensland in 2018.
Tina Baum, Gulumirrgin/Larrakia/Wardaman/Karajarri peoples, has over 30 years’ working in Australian Museums and Gallery’s. Currently the Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia since 2005, she curated Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, 2017 exhibition and the current Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia, 2021-23 international touring exhibition. She’s a recipient of the 2021 Art Monthly Australasia, Indigenous Voices Program (writing) as a mentor, the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Leaders Program, 2020-22, and an alumnus of the British Council Accelerate Programme to the UK, 2009. She is a mentor to alumni, presenter and organiser of the NGA and Wesfarmers Indigenous Arts Leadership and Fellowship Programs since 2010.
Judy Watson photo: Russell Shakespeare. Tina Baum photo: Patrice Riboust