{"product_id":"pabo10","title":"PAUL BONG | 'Leaves of scrub-tree' | Mezzotint print","description":"\u003cdiv title=\"Page 8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"\u003e“These are the first mezzotint prints I have done. I work from my own studio on the main street of Innisfail and now do all my printing myself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv title=\"Page 9\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMezzotints are different to etchings and they take a very long time to make the image on the surface of the metal plate. I bought a tool and I use that to rock back and forth and scrape and burnish the copper or zine plate to get the different tones, the light and dark areas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are my representations of Yidinji Shields, my people’s traditional art and I’m looking at the shield and using it to say different things about our history and contemporary culture today.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv title=\"Page 8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaul Bong (Bindur Bullin) is a Yidinji Man whose family is from the Russel River region south of Cairns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I’m named after a young warrior and I think that’s probably why I’m drawn to representing the shields of our rainforest people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI learnt about our culture and traditional ways from my Great Grandmother. Both my grandparents were great tribal leaders.\u003cbr\u003eWhen a young man was to be initiated, he’d get a blank timber shield, carved from the buttress of a g tree and he’d paint his totem on it. That shield became one of his most important possessions and the design would identify him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe’d always put the stings of the scorpion in there to remind him of the pain and agony of his initiation into a man.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaul Bong’s carved and painted rainforest shields can be seen at Brisbane’s International Airport, he has ‘Yidinji Designs’ on Glass for Air New Zealand in Los Angeles and his work has been exhibited throughout Australia, Germany and the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore recently his work was selected for the National Museum of Australia’s major exhibition Encounters alongside 151 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artefacts in the British Museum collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is now the first Yidinji artist to be working with glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePAUL BONG | 'Leaves of scrub-tree' | Mezzotint | 2019 | Edition of 50\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Paul Bong","offers":[{"title":"2\/50","offer_id":45032518352975,"sku":"PABO10e2","price":979.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"3\/50","offer_id":45032518385743,"sku":"PABO10e3","price":979.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/50 Framed","offer_id":45032518418511,"sku":"PABO10e1","price":979.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/2342\/files\/Leaves-of-Scrub-tree.jpg?v=1774668546","url":"https:\/\/shop.northsite.org.au\/products\/pabo10","provider":"NorthSite Store ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}