black AND white by Konstantina

black

SOLO EXHIBITION

black AND white KONSTANTINA (Kate Constantine)

11 May - 3 June 2023

COOEE ART REDFERN

17 Thurlow Street

Redfern NSW 2016

cover (front & back) image

Dyin Bangada: Gawulgung Dara (detail) | 2023

Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation of Kangaroo Teeth

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20306

“In this year of reflection, reform and referendum it’s hard to sit in the grey area. There is just black AND white.”

- Kate Constantine

black AND white Konstantina

“In this year of reflection and reform, it’s hard to sit in the grey area.

There is just black AND white.

In this collection of works I tell truth, reclaim story and share culture that has long been taken away from my Gadigal people.

We’ve been colonised not once, but twice.

Using only black AND white acrylic paint, with the timeless practice of ochre milling and incorporating my own natural pigment paints, I explore this very racially charged theme of being both black AND white in the year of The Voice.”

“Black AND white is a celebration. A moment in time to pause, acknowledge and honour the Gadi; our customs, our adornment, the cicatrices and ochre markings present on our bodies and our grace. These paintings recognise our existence, a physical reference to our being and strength. By looking to the past, we determine our future.

They are joy!

Healing intergenerational trauma through reclamation and restoration of kinship connections are critical. Our people are hardwired for connection; isolation and rejection from community causes a grief that cannot be healed.”

Raining Series: Garangal | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 152 x 100 cm | #20259

“In Gadigal stories we believe that the creator spirit Biame was feminine. She slept laying on her side in the Cumberland plains and awoke to push herself back to create the mountains and pushed out her legs to create our great waterways. When she was done she perched at Garangal as Pelican (of the same name) and took flight to Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) to create our songline to our brothers and sisters of the Arabana all the way down in South Australia and connects us to mobs in the interior by the breeding cycles of the Pelican.’

- Kate Constatine

Raining Series: Waranjam (This is Sydney) | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 139 x 198 cm | #20258

Didactic: “Waranjam is part of the ‘Raining Series’ as viewed from my place in bed, whilst pondering Wiyanga (motherhood), Dyin (womanhood) and what it’s like to be me. Many Wiyanga feel a stronger connection to Country and Culture after the birth of a child, and for me this piece explore themes of renewal and strength in my Culture, in my Blakness and the extraordinary connection I have to my ancestral homelands. As Gadi, I am the Country and it is me; we share spirit, life and love and this my homage and respect to her.”

Raining Series: Daralaba (South Head) | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 100 x 150 cm | #20310

Raining Series: Ngia Ni Waran | 2023

Translation: How I see Sydney

Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen

200 x 140 cm | #20311

Raining Series: Dubuwaagulya | 2023

Translation: Eastern point of Sydney Cove later Bennelong Point

Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen

120 x 90 cm | #20312

Raining Series: Yurun | 2023

Translation: Site of Lady Macquarie Chair today

Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen 120 x 90 cm | #20313

Dyin Bangada: Gawulgung Dara | 2023

Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation of Kangaroo Teeth

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20306

Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul | 2023

Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation made of Feather

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20307

Mula Magalyinyara #1 | 2023

Translation: Men’s body and face decoration, using ochre and clay

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 121 x 91 cm | #20263

Mula Magalyinyara #2 | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 121 x 91 cm | #20261

Didactic:The Port Jackson Painter (1788 - 1792) created a series of small Gouache paintings depicting our Gadi men in their “paint up” states.These patterns are intricate and detailed. Using predominantly white ochre for Corroberee and yalabi dayalung (Bora Ceremony) and red ochre for war. These traditional patterns aim to revive these stories on contemporary surfaces.

Dalgal (Pippis) (#1) | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen

60 x 60 cm | #20262

Dalgal (Pippis) (#2) | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen

60 x 60 cm | #20263

Dalgal (Pippis) (#3) | 2023

Natural earth pigments sustainably foraged from Gadigal Country with Acrylic on Belgium

Linen | 60 x 60 cm #20264

Dalgal (Pippis) (#4) | 2023

Natural earth pigments sustainably foraged from Gadigal Country with Acrylic on Belgium

Linen | 60 x 60 cm #20265

Gadigal Weave | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 100 x 100 cm | #20304

Naragaying | 2023

Translation: Degree of kin relationship

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 60 x 60 cm | #20308

Bugi Yarra (Bathe in Eucalyptus) | 2023

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 91 x 91 cm | #20305

Waraburra | 2023

Translation: False Sarsaparilla or Botany Bay Tea

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 91 x 91 cm | #20309

Curriculum Vitae

Kate Constatine

Gadigal

Awards & Recognition

2022

National Emerging Art Prize - Finalist

Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist

Arts In The Valley - Finalist

Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist

2021 2020

Fishers Ghost Art Prize - Finalist

Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist (highly commended)

BAM, Byron Art Prize - Finalist

The Voice Australia, Artwork & visuals for Grand Finale

Keynote speaker, inaugural TEDx Byron Bay. Theme ‘the space between’ Member of Indigenous Art Steering Committee for Waverley Council

Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist

BAM, Byron Art Prize - Semi finalist

Border Art Prize, Tweed Regional Gallery - Finalist (highly commended)

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

2022

2021

2020 2019

‘black AND white’ - Cooee Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia

‘Ngawiya Ngubadi’ - Sidney Nolan Trust, The Rodd, Herefordshire. UK

‘Raining On Eora’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia

‘Negative Space’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW

‘The Caste Collection’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW

‘Blak Enough’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW

‘Colour Correction’ - Tweed Regional Gallery Annex, Murwillumbah. NSW

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022

‘Finalist Exhibition, Visual Arts In The Valley’, Kangaroo Valley, NSW

‘Connection’ - National Museum of Australia, Canberra. ACT

‘Tjukurpa’ - Aboriginal Art Galleries UK, London

2021

2020

‘Finalist Exhibition, Byron Art Prize’ - Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina. NSW

‘Here I Am: Art by Great Women’ - Ambush Gallery, Darling Quarter, Sydney, NSW

‘A Vision of Country: Australian Aboriginal Landscapes’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW

‘Colours of Spring’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW

‘East Coast Matters’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW

Public Works

Westfield Warringah. Large scale external mural. Westfield Parramatta Lvl 5. Large scale internal mural.

Australian Passport Office Reception Mural and meeting room artworks

Baker McKenzie, Sydney. Acknowledgment of Country plaque and artwork

Liberty Finance Office, Melbourne murals and decals

While You Were Sleeping, ANU Canberra in conjunction with National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Central Station Hoarding Project, Sydney

Chris O’Brien Lighthouse, YouCan Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. Mural and Artwork

National Office Anglican Church, Sydney. Boardroom Artwork

Byron Shire Council Laneway project, Byron Bay. Mural

Lane Cove Council rejuvenation project, Lane Cove. Mural

Biography

Konstantina (Kate Constantine) is a proud Gadigal woman of the Eora nation and a contemporary Indigenous artist. She reimagines the artistic traditions of her people and provides a modern narrative for all Australians to better understand First Nations People as the fabric of Australia.

As a descendant of the Gadigal people, Konstantina is passionate about her language, culture and history, much of which has been lost, misplaced, or manipulated since the dawn of Colonisation. Through her extensive research, Kate relays the truthful histories of her people and is actively involved in revitalising the Gadigal language through her relationship with Professor Jaky Troy at Sydney University to breathe life into the sleeping native tongue of the Eora Nation.

In a contemporary take of traditional dot painting, the artist’s work connects to Country by recounting these histories, weaving in her personal experiences - the struggles, inspirations, challenges, and daily turmoils of motherhood while leading the life of a storyteller, creative, woman and, above all, an Aboriginal person connected to the land, animals, and spirit of our Country.

Using acrylics, ochre, natural pigments and sticks found on mother Earth she sits quietly for hours producing works on paper, canvas and at scale for public art projects. She now resides with her husband and three young children on Bundjalung Country where she is inspired by the nature that surrounds her and her sons.

Kate is a board member of the Aboriginal Art Association of Australia (AAAA), which represents the interests and amplifies the voices of all Aboriginal artists and galleries.

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY MUNDA WINES

Ancient soils, ancient culture.