Michael Eather is a contemporary artist, curator and gallerist based in Brisbane. Eather’s curatorial and creative practice explores notions of ‘cultural collision’ and how art can become a vehicle to unite community through stories. A continuing influence on Eather’s painting and sculptural works, include the lifechanging experience of living in Maningrida in the mid 1980’s, a remote Aboriginal community on the coast of central Arnhem Land. Here, amongst the many encounters and knowledge gained from the Kunnibidji people, he started a young family. In 1988, Eather helped found the Campfire Group, recognised as a significant cross-cultural initiative that helped facilitate artistic collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. Often collaborating with other artists himself, Eather’s work explores notions of shared artistic influence and how art can become means to bridge culture, ideologies and spirituality.
A dominant and ongoing theme within his sculptures is the stingray, which Eather describes as a personal messenger and a symbol of freedom. Created in both fiberglass and bronze, Eather sees the stingray as a spiritual companion, silently journeying through an imagined country, representing both wisdom gained and destinations yet reached.
The stingray held the drama and mystery of our strange cultures and other worlds, time and tide. Today they remain for me enigmatic symbols of coastal visions and collisions. As messengers they drift in and out of my sub and political consciousness.
Often presented suspended and life-size, Eather’s stingrays symbolise his creative freedom, but more importantly acknowledge the power behind collaborative knowledge and being united through shared cultural understanding. This includes finding strength navigating our cultural crossroads and recognising the ongoing exchange between life and art.
Exhibitions
