Painting Styles and Forms

Traditional style works (usually painted by men) generally restrict themselves to traditional colors (browns, white, black) and to relating Dreaming stories in planar view. The details of the stories are rarely fully revealed, because they are considered secret and therefore reserved for the initiated. However, the iconography often provides clues. For example, parallel lines can indicate traveling lines. Concentric circles may represent a campsite, waterhole or other place along the journey. Wavy lines may be snakes or rivers.

Contemporary style paintings (typically painted by women) employ a much broader color palette and can appear quite abstract in style. Even though abstracted, each of these paintings embeds one or more Dreaming stories. A common title for desert art paintings is simply "Country". For aboriginal people the term "Country" has a broad meaning that embraces their attachment to the land and all their Dreaming stories.

Curved lines in paintings usually signify women's upper body paint designs associated with women’s ceremonies called awelye ("a-wool-ya"). Awelye are held annually to initiate younger women and teach them the rituals, songs and dances of the Dreaming. Through awelye, women celebrate their Dreaming stories and promote a sense of communal happiness and help ensure that traditional food sources to flourish. Each woman has her own proprietary body paint designs to honor her specific totemic ancestors and Dreaming stories. These designs often feature in women's Aboriginal art. Awelye designs usually appear as curved lines in paintings, but can also be represented as straight lines and other designs.