"The Black Kangaroo"
Oil on Board
67x105cm
Signed Lower Right, Dated 1966
Illustrated page 109 of Dreamtime – The Aboriginal Heritage.
Prov: Osborne Art Gallery Adelaide
Private Collection Adelaide
$8,000-12,000
Drawn from the narrative tradition that underpins much of Ainslie Roberts’ practice, The Black Kangaroo illustrates the story of Kuperee, a powerful
and destructive ancestral being whose presence brought fear and devastation to the land. As recounted in the artist’s published work, Kuperee is depicted as an enormous kangaroo, impervious to conventional weapons, who destroys those who attempt to confront him, leaving a landscape marked by the remains of his victims.
The narrative centres on Burdamuk, an elder who possesses a ceremonial axe of great power, and his two sons, Indinya and Pilia. Unable to act himself, Burdamuk entrusts the weapon to his sons, who track the creature to its camp. Concealing themselves within a tree, they wait for Kuperee to return, but their initial attack fails, their spears unable to penetrate the animal’s thick hide. Only when the kangaroo attempts to uproot the tree does Indinya strike a decisive blow with the axe, killing the creature and bringing an end to its reign.
Within this context, the kangaroo functions not as a naturalistic subject, but as a symbolic and narrative force, an embodiment of danger, imbalance and ultimately restoration. Roberts’ treatment of the figure aligns with his broader practice, where singular, dominant forms are used to convey the essence of a story rather than a specific moment within it.
Illustrated in the artist’s published volume, the work holds particular significance within his oeuvre, linking the painting directly to a recorded narrative source. As such, it stands as a resolved example of Roberts’ approach, where image and story are closely aligned, and where the Australian landscape becomes a setting for enduring cultural themes of conflict, authority and renewal.
