Ancient Circles

I've been stitching circles.

Circles (signifying meeting place, campsite or water hole) and dots (indicating sacred information not to be shared) are extremely common in the art of Australia's Aborigines. I've been experimenting with ways to represent these in stitch.

Before the arrival of Europeans, Australia's Aboriginal languages were purely spoken and there was no cultural history of writing. Instead, there was great reliance on complex oral histories and rich 'dreamtime' recountings. Simple symbols such as these dots and circles, were used for sand paintings and in caves or on tools. Now their modern artwork shows these symbols as they represent their  spiritual way of life and their beliefs, their surroundings and the animals and birds that live in their lands.

Margaret Robbie