Yondee Shane Hansen
Shane Hansen, known as Yondee, is a Noongar man from Western Australia and currently residing in Perth. Born in 1964 in Dumbleyung, located approximately 270 km south of Perth, he has a profound connection to the Aboriginal term 'Dambeling,' denoting a large lake near his birthplace, the largest in southwest WA, and the stories associated with it, particularly those about the Wagal (rainbow snake), which he vividly recalls from his childhood visits.
Hansen's upbringing was infused with cultural teachings from his father, encompassing hunting techniques and visual artistry exemplified through sand drawings. At the age of around 10, his interactions with his aunties along the Swan River exposed him to the practice of gathering paper bark for their artistic endeavours, initiating his artistic tutelage under older relatives renowned for their paper bark paintings.
An adept and accomplished artist, Hansen is pioneering a distinctive approach involving sand and ochres to portray his people's ancestral narratives and legends. His repertoire also includes meticulously crafted figurative works reflecting aspects of mission life, hunting, and fauna. While his artistic presentations are abstract, they possess a distinct narrative essence. Hansen's creative pursuits are driven by a desire to preserve the traditions imparted by his grandfather, who transmitted stories and imagery through ground paintings. Hansen perceives the transition of these portrayals into sand paintings as a means of doing justice to their significance while introducing them to novel audiences.
About the artwork
Dancing Winds" refers to a contemporary painting and cultural concept by Noongar artist Yondee Shane Hansen. The title and artwork symbolise the patterns and movements of wind across the land, a concept that connects to Aboriginal spirituality and storytelling, including practices like using wind for smoke signals and how the land's spiritual forces are expressed through the wind's presence.
