Yondee Shane Hansen is a Perth based Noongar artist. He was born in 1964 at Dumbleyung, 270 km south west of Perth. He grew up in WA’s south west around Narrogin, and later near Guildford on the outskirts of Perth. The story of his early life and his attraction to painting gives a strong idea of how his life story feeds into his role as an Aboriginal artist.
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 is different out of the creeks, its smoother. When you have washed it a few times and sieved it, then mixed with paint, it’s good to use. When I make sand paintings using black and white, it’s a simple strong message.”
An experienced and accomplished artist, Yondee Shane Hansen has developed ways of working with sand and ochres to depict the stories and legends of his people. He also paints detailed figurative works based on mission life, hunting and animals. His works are abstract in their presentation but narrative in their content.
As a child, Yondee Shane Hansen learnt his grandfather’s ground paintings and feels the translation of them to sand paintings does them justice and brings them to new audiences.
Yondee Shane Hansen has painted with the Campfire group of Aboriginal artists in Brisbane as well as exhibiting his work in galleries in Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, and overseas in USA and Ireland.
