John Prince Siddon
John Prince Siddon
BORN
1964, GREAT SANDY DESERT, WA
COUNTRY
JAPINGKA, GREAT SANDY DESERT, WA
COMMUNITY
FITZROY CROSSING
LANGUAGE
WALMAJARRI
About
Despite being the son of one of Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency’s founding members, John Prince Siddon was far from an overnight artistic success. Born in 1964, he spent his early years working on cattle stations until a horse riding accident drew that career to a close. The sudden change in his circumstances saw him begin to express himself creatively, and he continues to experiment with different media, shifting between two and three dimensional forms and exploring new ways to work with painted surfaces.
Siddon’s works often depict confronting imagery inspired by national and global issues, his personal story, desert iconography and the Narrangkarni (Dreamtime). His works are known for their incredible detail, combining rich layers of symbolic imagery to portray reflections on colonisation, immigration, native flora and fauna and the experience of Aboriginal communities.
WORK
Purlkartu – Spider depicts the iconic red back spider as it fashions a web in the form of continental Australia, sweeping up an array of native fauna in its weave. This work beautifully captures Siddon’s artistic style, which blends traditional dot and line work with modern realism. Siddon is known for experimentation, with his creations straddling a range of forms and media and incorporating a combination of subjects. Of his work the artist says:
“Landscape, dreamtime, stories, kids’ paintings, poetry……put them all together, its all the same with all my painting it’s all mixed up”
As you dive into Purlkartu – Spider, you’ll continue to notice a range of familiar elements, from characters to shapes and patterns, seemingly hidden at first glance in the rich density of Siddon’s visual storytelling.
