Summary

Wooden Wall Piece 'Hard Wall - Patria Dictis' made by Klára Donáth-Patay, circa 1991. In 1987 Hungarian born artist Klára Donáth-Patay was awarded a grant by the Australia Council to work as an artist in residence in the Melbourne Hungarian community for eight months to create two large mixed media wall installations for the Hungarian Community Centre in Wantirna. The two works are designed to express the pride, dignity, romanticism and poetry at the heart of the Hungarian character.

The project, which took four years to complete, resulted in the creation of two complementary artworks. 'Hard Wall - Patria Dictis' consists of wooden shingles decorated with metal work based on Hungarian folk craft, such as that found on belt buckles, glory boxes and horse brasses. Donáth-Patay sees this work as exemplifying the sternness and hardness associated with Hungarian masculinity. The title of the work Patria Dictis refers to the love and longing for one's home.

Klára studied art and painting at university in Hungary, before she was expelled for her political views. She then trained and worked as a costume designer for the many theatres in Budapest. After escaping Hungary in 1956 and immigrating to Australia, Klára worked in a variety of jobs to support her family. Klára has continued to create work in her chosen medium of textile art. Much of Klára's work draws upon her Hungarian cultural origins.

Physical Description

Large rectangular artwork consisting of numerous sections of decorated timber attached via adhesive to a timber backing forming a grid pattern. The timber sections have been decorated with paints ranging in colour from muted blues and purples to various shades of maroon, orange and green. Some panels are embellished with lines of gold paint and others with thin copper alloy foils adhered and wrapped around their lower edges. There are six strips of leather affixed to the upper border of the artwork.

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