Bio & Information
Pokerwork in Australia Bio
Pokerwork refers to a way of decorating wood by burning a design into it Even if the wooden object has very little or no burnt design with most of the design having been painted it is still called pokerwork
Pokerwork considered by some these days as ‘amateur’ and having waned in popularity of late has still all of its alure to the decerning collector Its importance for instance here in Australia shouldn’t be missed for its role the craft played in the decorative arts movement and social history of our country Many a piece was hand crafted starting in the early 1900’s right up to the late 1930’s early 1940’s Australian pokerwork reflected Australian designs of the natural landscape and its flora and fauna for example Australian gum trees, gum leaves, gum nuts plus Australian birds such as the kookaburra were very popular these themes reflected great pride in a developing nation The great Depression era of the 1930’s for this craft is even more significant if taken in context with the harsh living conditions that many endured around that time and trading items could of meant the difference in having food on the table or not The role the craft played not only as an art form that occupied your mind in those hard times but also by the fact the craft gave people as self-sustaining form of trade hasn’t gone unnoticed by many museum’s here in Australia and around the globe these institutions recognize the crafts important contribution for its role it played in the social history and culture of our societies Pokerwork has its origins dating back to ancient & Indigenous cultures including Australian Aborigines who used this craft to decorate weapons, domestic and religious items it’s considered one of the oldest decorative folk crafts known and involves burning designs onto wooden objects etc with a heated tools then sometimes coloured with ink and then varnish applied to the surface instead of polish
