THE ARTIST

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Polly Johnstone is a Northern Territory based visual artist and arts educator. Her art practice includes oil paintings, acrylic paintings, watercolour paintings, pen and ink drawings, aquarelles and graphite.

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She participated in the first ever Darwin Street Art Festival and has since gone on to participate in many of the subsequent years of the festival. Polly is passionate about creating art in public spaces for all to enjoy and to hopefully inspire the next generation.

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THE ARTWORK

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NT Vanitas 2021 - At first glance this painting looks very “Territory”, NT Draft, Croc skull, pandanus seed pods, mango, Indigenous printed fabric and mud whelk. It includes wild-flowers found in the NT representing the Traditional Owners of the land but also will include flowers from all over the world representing people that have made the “Journey” to the NT making it the special multicultural place it is. From early Greek and Chinese to the Philippines, Thai, Indian, New Zealand, English and many more– All represented by flowers associated with that country. 

 

This painting also serves as a “Memento Mori” a reminder that this “Journey” of life does not last forever and that we will all leave this physical world. Inspired by Dutch Still Life Vanitas paintings – reminding the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly goods and pleasures.