Rare Form of Miniature Stenciled Rock Art Found in Australia
New research suggests the small-scale illustrations may have been made with beeswax
By Alex Fox
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
MAY 27, 2020

In 2017, researchers surveying the Yilbilinji rock shelter in northern Australia’s Limmen National Park discovered rare examples of miniature stenciled rock art. Now, a new study published in the journal Antiquity may unravel the secrets of these mysterious artworks’ creation. [Interestingly, in the new study, the researchers did not date the pigment to see when the miniature stencils were made. The only mention of dates is with the use of beeswax, as far back as the 1800s. - Stencil Archive]

Australia’s Aboriginal culture is renowned for its diverse rock art, which dates back thousands of years and includes an array of stenciled renderings. Such works were created by holding an object against a rock’s surface and spraying it with pigment to render its silhouette in negative space. Stenciled art often features life-size human body parts, animals, plants and objects like boomerangs, according to a statement.

Small-scale stencils posed an obvious logistical hurdle for ancient artists, as the tools had to be purpose-built for the artwork rather than drawn from an existing slate of objects.

“What makes these stencils at Yilbilinji so unique is that they are tiny, some measuring only centimeters across, and they are too small to have been made using body parts or full-sized objects,” lead author Liam Brady, an archaeologist at Flinders University, tells Henry Zwartz of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The trove is one of just three examples of miniature stenciled rock art identified to date. Per the statement, the other surviving specimens are found at Nielson’s Creek in Australia and Kisar Island in Indonesia.

Thanks, as always, to Josiah, Xsacto, @only_stencil_archive (via IG), r/stencils, r/streetart, and Brooklyn Street Art
Photo: Giving Thanks in London!

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From aspiring breakdancer to accomplished artist, Ian Kuali’i traces his path so far
May 7th, 2020, 5:30PM / BY Justin Mugits, for Smithsonian Magazine

Artist Ian Kuali’i (Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiian] and Shis Inday [Mescalero Apache]) is known both for his cut-paper work and for his background in hip hop and graffiti. Ian visited the National Museum of the American Indian in New York last October as part of our Artist in the Galleries series, where he presented demonstrations of his art and answered visitors’ questions about it. He was scheduled to take part in our Children’s Festival during Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month this May, leading collaborative mural painting. After the Children’s Festival was postponed, I took the opportunity to talk to Ian about his influences as an artist and his evolution from aspiring breakdancer to accomplished, self-taught artist.

Growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, Ian spent time in both Hawai’i and Southern California, as his mother, Carolyn Melenani Kuali’i, moved back and forth for college and her work in Native health initiatives. Ian has always been connected to his Hawaiian roots through his mother’s teachings, and through his extended family of aunts and uncles in Hawai’i and the diasporic communities of Southern California. “The culture was always around,” he says, “so at any given moment, we might have some of the most influential figures in Hawaiian politics, like Huanani-Kay Trask, at our house in Irvine. There were hālau hula [schools of Hawaiian culture] all throughout Southern California.”

Ian was also impacted by the hip hop culture that was blossoming across the country. “We had a crew called Sick Block. My mom was going to the University of California Irvine at the time, and we would hang out at KUCI 88.9, the college radio station. And they had hip hop hour. At the same time there were b-boy [breakdancing] summits going on; there were a lot of legal graffiti walls like Huntington Beach. It was great times, going to African Student Union dances with my crew and battling people [in break dancing battles].” As Ian became more involved in hip hop culture, he realized that he wasn’t a very skilled emcee or DJ, so he began focusing on his graffiti writing.