Aboriginal X-Ray Three-Step Reduction Prints

The "X-ray" tradition in in Aboriginal art is thought to have developed around 2000 B.C. and continues to the present day. As its name implies, the X-ray style depicts animals or human figures in which the internal organs and bone structures are clearly visible. X-ray art includes sacred images of ancestral supernatural beings as well as secular works depicting fish and animals that were important food sources. Through the creation of X-ray art, Aboriginal painters express their ongoing relationships with the natural and supernatural worlds.

Dot paintings are the traditional visual art form of the Aborigines in Western Australia Central Desert. The canvas is covered in small dots of paint which create patterns and symbols. Fifth graders created a three-step reduction relief print in the X-ray style using carving tools and a rubber-like block (they reduced, or carved from, their plates a total of three times, printing after each reduction). Students depicted animals with portions of their skeletal and organ systems visible within the outline of the body. They then created a border of colorful dots and patterns, similar to those seen in most traditional Aboriginal artwork.