Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis); Pleistocene
Pastel, 2018
60 x 40 cm
Tag: man
The picture shows a male aboriginal Tasmanian, member of an ethnic group which faced a cruel genozide by european settlers during the 19th century. The last of them with pure Tasmanian descent, Fanny Chochrane Smith, died in 1905. Nonetheless there are still people around with partly native Tasmanian ancestry.
The man has dressed his hair with red ochre, which was common at the east coast of the island. The necklace is made from sea snails of the species Phasianotrochus bellulus, which was evidentially used by Tasmanians. Furthermore the tasmanians had very scantily clothing, not exceeding kangaroo fur. They didn’t know the art of tatooing, but scarification was done on parts of the body, like on the chest or shoulders.
For research I used the following publication: Gisela Völger: Die Tasmanier: Versuch einer ethnographisch-historischen Rekonstruktion; Wiesbaden, Steiner,1972
Oil paint on cardboard, 2017
29,5 x 21 cm
Sanga cattle
Ink, 2018
29,5 x 21 cm
Encounter with Aepyornis maximus
A Madagasy man of the Bara type faces a bird which extinction is caused by his species: elephant birds, also known as vorompatras, belong to the biggest birds of Earth history and lived probably until the 17th century. Anyway this bird has an importance for the natives until today: the shells of the big eggs are collected and sold to tourists. The aborigine has a gusset hairstyle, which was still a distinctive feature between the different clans of Madagascar a hundred years ago. The hair gussets were often covered in a layer of wax.
Coloured pencil, 2016/17
59,5 x 42 cm
MoVo – Moderne Vogelbilder, 2017, Heineanum Halberstadt