Image: Daisy Hamlot × Isabelle Cull Guudar (Community dogs) 2019, cotton. Bendigo Art Gallery Collection, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist, Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre and Bendigo Art Gallery.
This work is a cotton dress and hat displayed on a mannequin and measures 1.75 metres high by 80 centimetres wide and has a depth of 60 centimetres. It is placed on a plinth, 15 centimetres from the floor. The garment is on loan from the Bendigo Art Gallery Collection for Gulbuuygu: Hope Vale and QUT Fashion.
The work is a smock dress made of cotton with a neutral cream background. The design consists of loosely drawn dog shapes spread out over the entire garment. The design at the centre of the dress is of two dogs shown in side profile up on their hind legs facing each other, perhaps at play. A thick black circle is drawn around the dogs, and the inside of the circle is also coloured blue. The dog on the right is coloured blue and the dog on the left is coloured mustard. Beneath these two dogs and on the left-hand side is another dog, on an angle pointing up to the right, coloured blue with black markings on its back and wearing a black collar. It has a black lined oval drawn around it with little black marks resembling fringing around the entire perimeter of the oval.
Next to this dog is a drawing of a bucket the inside coloured blue, as if containing water. A horizontal seam, located near the bottom of the dress, creates a ruffled frill of fabric and soft movement which just covers the knees of the mannequin.
The material is also gathered around the neckline to create a frilled collar which stands upright. At the shoulders sleeves puff up and out before gathering in more closely to the arm of the mannequin and towards the wrists on each side. The dog design repeats across the garment and on the left arm a dog figure is drawn facing out, with a frown, coloured blue on a pale lime green background, again outlined in black.
A sunhat with a very large brim in the same print design completes the garment and is placed on the head of the mannequin, tilted slightly up to the right. The underside of the sunhat is exposed and the lining here is grey and cream uniform stripes. To the right of the mannequin are two different colourways of the same Guudar (Community dogs) design. At the rear a large piece of tracing paper with a grey and pastel pink colourway is pinned to the wall and in front a large piece of calico hangs with the design in a rusty brown and dark mustard colour from a long piece of wooden dowel onto the plinth below.
Daisy Hamlot (nee Bowen), born in Cape Bedford in 1937, is a senior Thuupi Warra elder. Her totems are the Waandarr (White Cockatoo) on her father’s side and Ngamu Ngaajarr (Dingo) on her mother’s side. Daisy speaks the Guugu Yimithirr language and is a member of the Gamba Gamba group (senior women) at the Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre. At 5 years old, Daisy and her family were removed from Cape Bedford and interned at Woorabinda Settlement during World War II. Despite hardships, Daisy recalls fond memories of her time with family, at school and making friends.
Daisy is well known for her whimsical paintings about Guuda (dogs), often depicting her two pet dogs. Daisy paints her dingo totem to express her connection to her country and family. She depicts her daily life, including her experiences during the evacuation, as well as hardship and loss endured by her community during the Second World War. Daisy completed her Certificate in Visual Arts at TAFE. She loves participating in the art centre’s workshops, including natural dying on silk, lino prints, and textiles.
Daisy Hamlot (nee Bowen), born in Cape Bedford in 1937, is a senior Thuupi Warra elder. Her totems are the Waandarr (White Cockatoo) on her father’s side and Ngamu Ngaajarr (Dingo) on her mother’s side. Daisy speaks the Guugu Yimithirr language and is a member of the Gamba Gamba group (senior women) at the Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre. At 5 years old, Daisy and her family were removed from Cape Bedford and interned at Woorabinda Settlement during World War II. Despite hardships, Daisy recalls fond memories of her time with family, at school and making friends.
Daisy is well known for her whimsical paintings about Guuda (dogs), often depicting her two pet dogs. Daisy paints her dingo totem to express her connection to her country and family. She depicts her daily life, including her experiences during the evacuation, as well as hardship and loss endured by her community during the Second World War. Daisy completed her Certificate in Visual Arts at TAFE. She loves participating in the art centre’s workshops, including natural dying on silk, lino prints, and textiles.