The imagery of the Aboriginal culture, depicted in ceremonial body art and many of the sacred sites, rock and cave paintings, used very few colours, as they were often made from what was available locally. The colours were often mined from ‘ochre pits’, being used for both painting and ceremonies. The ochre was even traded between clans and at one time could only be collected by specific men within the clan. Some of the ochre pits can be viewed today as tourist attractions.

With the development of the modern Aboriginal art movement, symbols took on a variety of colours, with some symbolic representation taking on a more realistic rendering. New generations of Aboriginal artists were developing their own style of painting, which saw whole communities producing abstract works that fit well with many modern galleries and museums.

The use of dots and the modern abstract equivalent was to tell a story, more often then not, a physical representation of an oral tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. Of course, some of these stories are not for the uninitiated, and although they may be depicted in the paintings, they are not revealed to the non-initiate. It has been discussed in publications elsewhere that:

As the Papunya painting movement developed in the 1970s, dotting was increasingly used to obscure meanings and to hide some of the symbolism that was not meant to be exposed to the un-initiated.¹

Some of the symbols used in Aboriginal art appear to be the same, but can mean different things, such as the symbol used for woman, adult and child. The child is depicted as a smaller version of the adult/woman symbol. There are of course variations on symbols such as that for a child, which could also be represented as a dot enclosed with dots. Even a small circle can be used to depict a child. Children are usually easy to identify in many painting, as a smaller symbol to that of the woman or adult, found in the same painting.

When viewed in monochrome other symbols can look similar, such as the circles within circles, sometimes depicted on its own, sparsely or in clustered groups. When this symbol is used and depending on the Aboriginal tribe you belong to, it can vary in meaning from campfire, tree, hill, digging hole, waterhole or spring. It use of the symbol can be clarified further by the use of colour, with water often being depicted as blue.

Many paintings by Aboriginal artist, such as those that are depicting a 'dreamtime story', are detailed from an aerial perspective. The narrative is laid out detailing the lay of the land, as created by ancestral beings in their journey or during creation. This modern day rendition is a modern reinterpretation of songs, ceremonies, rock art and body art that was the norm for many thousands of years.

Whatever the meaning, interpretations of the icons should be taken in context of the entire painting, the region from which the artist originates from, the story behind the painting, the style of the painting, with additional clues being the colours used in some of the more modern works, such as the blue circles signifying water.