Yamaji storyteller Ernie Dingo is reaching new heights, with his art being part of a time capsule heading to the moon.
Dingo featured on the TV Art show “Put Some Colour in Your Life” in 2015, showing off his watercolour paintings.
The episode is one of three hundred Put Some Colour in Your Life episodes being stored in a time capsule heading to the moon’s South Pole as part of the Lunar Codex, or “the Museum on the Moon” project.
But the actor and presenter never had such grand plans for his artistic pursuits. For him, painting is an escape.
"Once I get [the paints] all set up, I put the brush in one and I just let my mind or my spirits or whatever just guide me, and it just flows,” he said.
Ernie Dingo at the launch of his solo exhibition at Hunters Hill Art Gallery in 2014. Source: Facebook
“I just think of them old fullas using me as another way to storytell."
A master with watercolours, Dingo’s paintings are a homage to Country.
“There’s two types of people in this world: people from the mid-west and people who wish they were from the mid-west,” Dingo laughed.
The actor recalls coming home to Country, seeing the sand dunes and colour that ran between them – from bright bold yellows and oranges, to soft pink pastels.
His paintings are a reflection of that palette, with watercolour horizons folding over one another.
"That's what my paintings are about, chasing horizons,” he said.
"I've been chasing horizons since I was a kid. I’ve traveled all over the world, it’s just been amazing.”
Now his paintings are set to cross the ultimate horizon, into space.
Dingo is one of many artists who had their stories shared through Put Some Colour in Your Life, which is the brainchild of Graeme Stevenson OAM, who kicked off the TV documentary series in 2009.
The half-hour episodes see artists in their studios, sharing their practice.
“When I began this business back in 2009, my vision was to build a library of the minds of artists, preserving a digital record of creative spirit, culture, and techniques for future generations,” Mr Stevenson said.
Ernie and Graeme on the set of Put Some Colour in Your Life. Source: Put Some Colour In Your Life
“I had no idea that the library would be kept on the moon. It is just mind blowing.”
It's been equally surprising for Dingo, who, despite having a natural talent with watercolours, wasn't always a painter.
"I was just this little Yamaji kid from the bush you know, everything was in my head... Then one day out bush an artist said to me, 'you should do some paintings,'” he recalled.
"She gave me this piece of paper... [the] most coarse of papers. Normally you'd start on something thin but I started on the real thing - about $25 a sheet.”
“It just felt right, it was great.”
'Put Some Colour in Your Life' found its place in the time capsule from a connection between Mr Stevenson and Lunar Codex curator Dr Samuel Peralta.
'Put Some Colour in Your Life' is expected to land on the moon 2023. Source: Unsplash
Dr Peralta described the project as a “message-in-a-bottle to the future”.
“It is sending the work of 5000 plus creative artists to the moon in three lunar exhibits/time capsules to be launched via three separate missions to the Moon over 2021 - 2023,” he said.
Dingo’s story is expected to land on the moon in 2023, as part of the Polaris Collection – the third collection. Sharing space with several other feature films, short films, documentaries and award-winning films.
“Our hope is that future travellers who find these time capsules will discover some of the richness of our world today,” Dr Samuel Peralta said.
“The Lunar Codex speaks to the idea that, despite wars and pandemics and climate upheaval, humankind found time to dream, time to create art.”
With his stories headed to the moon, Dingo isn’t slowing down on the paints anytime soon. Buying 24 sheets of paper on Tuesday, he has big plans to build a mobile studio and hit the road painting.
“I’m going to convert my caravan into an art studio, drive for two days, pull up and paint for two days. That’s the dream,” he said.
