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Aboriginal Artist David Cameron |
David Cameron is a senior and respected artist and song man of the Kakadu region.
"I was born in Madjinbadi, in the bush. I was staying there, growing up and my father used to work at the meat works skinning buffalo. I went to school at Madjinbadi in a caravan.
When I was bigger all them old people used to take us fishing, swimming and hunting, there used to be lots of buffalo. We moved to Jabiru East, staying to go to school there and then I was staying at Maningrida doing ceremony. I was learning bininj way and balanda way.
My grandfather taught me painting before he passed away. Then I started painting. I’ve taught my children how to paint and now at Warradjan I paint, talk to tourist about Bininj culture and art."
David has spent many years travelling Manmoi and Maningrida hunting, fishing and creating traditional bark art and paper masterpieces. His dreaming and favourite subjects are Barramundi, turtle, fresh water prawn, mimi spirits and more traditional styles from the ‘Stone Country’ such as X-ray art, cross-hatching using traditional bark and ochre's.
The style of cross-hatching is unique to the Indigenous artist from this region and classic artists are capable of the finest lines that encapsulate the more traditional techniques – painting with reeds with hair fine bristles and only 4 colours/ochre (White, black, yellow ochre, red ochre). Subjects or content are unique to each artist and sometimes significant to that family/country (dreaming). This sacred practice means teachings are only passed down through specific Indigenous people and this is vital to preserving culture and stories that have been passed through generations.
David was also trained by his father and painted alongside him, helping complete a large mural at Melbourne’s Royal Alfred hospital. He has a wide range of art spanning back to early 1990’s and he has a huge knowledge of the local area having worked as a local artist at Daluk Daluk Gallery, Warradjan Cultural Centre, Bowali/Marruwuddi Gallery and other NT galleries.