Image: Morgan, Sally Mother and child 1990 colour screenprint QUT Art Collection Purchased 1993.
This work is a colour screenprint and measures 76 centimetres high by 56.5 centimetres wide. It is editioned in the far-left hand corner 55 of 95, titled in pencil at the bottom in the middle ‘Mother & Child’ and in the right bottom hand corner signed by the artist, Sally Morgan and dated 1990. The work has a thick white mat board and a think light coloured timber frame.
The central figures and focal point in the middle of this screenprint is a stylised image of a mother and child shown in side profile. The mother is shown facing to the left with her head tilting down towards her infant child cradled in her arms. The child is on the left and facing right, raising its head looking up towards the mother and their arm is outstretched and resting upon the mother’s chest. The figures bodies are painted black, and both are outlined in a bright candy pink. The only physical features highlighted are their eyes both brown in colour and staring intently at each other. Above the infant’s head is a halo, a semi-circle of yellow, interspersed with triangles of orange. A halo also surrounds the mother’s head with alternating blocks of colour in bright and dark orange. Two bands of colour in dark pink and orange collectively outline the mother and child. Behind the figures is a window of night sky in black dotted with bright yellow stars. The entire scene is surrounded with a highly decorative border, like a picture frame, with wavy lines in black, purple, pink and orange and circles in bright yellow with orange outlines on a deep blue background. The work is bold in style and vibrant in colour with a graphic quality.
Sally Morgan is a prominent Aboriginal artist, author, and academic of Palkyu descent from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Born in Perth, Morgan is best known for her groundbreaking autobiography My Place (1987), which played a significant role in bringing Aboriginal voices and stories into mainstream Australian literature. Through this work, she revealed her family's hidden Aboriginal heritage, challenging the legacy of assimilation policies and giving voice to the lived experiences of Indigenous Australians.
As a visual artist, Sally's work is characterised by bold colours, stylised forms, and storytelling motifs rooted in her Aboriginal identity and connection to Country. Her paintings often explore themes of family, identity, connection to land, and the spiritual dimensions of Aboriginal culture. Morgan's art is both deeply personal and widely accessible, blending contemporary styles with traditional influences to communicate cultural resilience and continuity.