Judy Watson: Blood Language

Judy Watson: Blood Language

Judy Watson: Blood Language is a pictorial exploration of the seminal canvases, works on paper, sculptural projects and artist's books by leading contemporary Australian artist Judy Watson. Divided into the seven defining elements within her artistic themes - water, skin, poison, dust and blood, ochre, bones and driftnet - each section is an extended picture essay with the poetry of the images matched by the commentary by the artist. A prologue and epilogue by art writer Louise Martin-Chew acknowledge the many curators and writers who have written extensively on Watson's work and develop new themes in Watson's work in the light of recent events. In this lavishly illustrated book, Watson takes us with her on a journey into the plight of the dispossessed Indigenous Australians with whom she shares a family history and heritage, but also expresses her sensitivity to the oppressed in the many countries through which she has journeyed. She has cast her driftnet wide, well beyond the limits of her own country into a world of ideas without borders. It is an imaginative and empathetic art with an uncanny ability to absorb injustice in a manner she describes as a broader geography of belonging. As an artist Watson negotiates a particular cultural slipstream for this moment in time and Judy Watson: Blood Language recognises her unique contribution to a particularly dynamic era in contemporary Australian art.