June 2022

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Man-ngarre (Native Grasses)

Elizabeth had a distinctive artistic style, depicting the natural world with loose, organic strokes. Her style was evident in her key designs Kun-ngol (clouds), showing the cloud formations over her floodplain country after the wet season, and the fine detail of Kun-kirh (mud ripples) depicting cracked mud in the sun during dry season. Elizabeth was close family with Janet Marawarr, Lucy Yarawanga and Raylene Bonson, leading artists at Bábbarra.

This design celebrates the grasses of Arnhem land, the spear grass, Sorghum intransthat grows in the wet season and dies off or is burnt during the dry season.

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Coolamon

‘I bin just do them bush coolamon,’ Jane Yalunga says. ‘Like they carry one for water, bush medicine you know and bush food. Early days eh, old people used to carry that thing.’ Gija people used to carve coolamons out of jarlalu wood.

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GAWULUMBULU – BAINES RIVER

‘ This one down in Baines River near Kildirk,’ Mungnari says. ‘They bin leave im one old man there, long time. He was crippled, when they had that leprosy here. Naralyangen Gap further up. Not far from Kildirk Station. Used to have a [cattle] yard right down there near Bottle Tree Hole.’

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WOOLRWYN, TEXAS COUNTRY

Roberta Daylight’s grandfather was Hector Jandany, an important artist and spiritual leader in Warmun community. Hector Jandany passed away in 2006 and his legacy is very strong. In this painting Roberta is painting one of Hector’s stories. Woolrwyn lies on Texas Downs Station. This is Ngarrgoorroon Country. Hector says ” I can’t draw anyone else’s country, only mine for my mummy. ”Darm ngargimba (this is my country). I come from hill country.”

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Marlam, Marlam

Respected Warmun elder Peggy Patrick says, “Marlam that one, Finger painting. When we paint our bodies, that’s the one, our body painting. I made that, it’s my story. When we have corroboree, that’s the body painting. I wanted to try it and it’s a good one, he’s all right.”

Peggy has painted this work in the same style that she paints the body with her fingers (marlam) during corroboree and ceremony.

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ORD RIVER, MOON DREAMING

In this works Phyllis is painting the Ord River (down the middle). This is where the Moon bathe in the Dreamtime. In the Dreamtime the Moon was a man, he was very handsome and all the women in the camp was in love with him. They would also follow him down to the river when he bathed and would call out to him trying to woo him. But he was in love with Dawool (the black headed snake), but Dawool was his mother-inlaw through skin kinship and it was taboo for him to love her. 

If you go there today you can find a large flat rock in the middle where he would kneel down to bathe, in this rock is the imprint of his hands, feet and knees.

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Old man on the hill

Peggy Patrick has painted a Dream time story of a old man standing on top of a hill singing out for his dogs. Below this hill is where they killed a Kangaroo. This hill stands near Clifton Hole an also across the highway from Lissadel station turnoff.

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