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 endeavors, 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
Old people used rock formations for camping, and the stories of the tribes were painted on the faces of the rock cliffs.
Yondee Shane Hanson remembers:“Later on, when we moved to the outskirts of Perth, to Swan View, we would walk down to the river, light fires along the side of the river, and collect paper bark. Art was all around me – in the paddocks when the flowers came, in the fields and the crops, along the rivers and around the rocks.”
Talking about his art practice today, Yondee Shane Hansen says: “I make sand paintings, collecting sand from the creeks. You have to wash it to get the salt out, but the sand differs from the creeks, so it's smoother. It's good to use when you have washed it a few times, sieved it, and mixed it with paint. When I make sand paintings using black and white, it gives that simple, strong message.”Yondee Shane Hansen has painted with the Campfire group of Aboriginal artists in Brisbane and has exhibited his work in galleries in Western Australia, NSW, Queensland, and overseas (including the USA, the Czech Republic, and Ireland).
