Deep water you can see clearly two or three ston fish swimming around the coral alive.
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
Blue ston fish swimming together on bottom of sea looking for a spot to settle.
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
Today is a good day for drag net down the beach. I love to wear this dress cause it reminds me of dragging net to catch fish for dinner.
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
All Island ladies love to show off with there dress and walk around.
The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper (100% cotton rag with strong archival properties). Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
Gath in my language means low tide. The yellow for the sand and you can also see the reef bar where there’s a lot of stone fish swimming around.
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmnsjah
Small island top looks like smalll island dress rolled up in dark blue ink used to put through the press. Now it looks like X-ray vision of the small top, I like it!
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
Walking to village through bushes seeing all kind of thongs on muddy tracks.
Art Centre notes: The artwork is a ‘pochoir’ print, or monotype, printed on BFK Rives paper 100% cotton rag with strong archival properties. Signed by the artist on the front.
Printer: Paula Savage
Print Assistant: Dian Darmansjah
This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djomi fresh water spirit mermaid.
The Djomi figure is a mermaid like spirit with fish tail that lives in the fresh water stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djomi is a known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.
‘If you go there you can get pregnant easily. Djomi has babies, and they can give others babies too. The Djomi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djomi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djomi.
Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men, they are too scared of that Djomi. When we visit the Djomi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djomi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djomi spirits. They are looking for a mother.
This Djomi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djunguys to paint this Djomi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way.
This design also depicts the fresh water lily leaves, and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.
A design by emerging textile designer, Charmaine Pascoe.
‘My Gurrpurdu (diving bird) was white. She flew from Gan Gan to Gapuwiyak and then to Yathalamarra. And then she flew to Gartji.
At Gartji two fresh water seaweed shoots, one long and one short were trying to keep diving bird down. They were saying, “Don’t go away you belong to this country”. Diving bird said “No! I’m going to travel around to other country”. She was flapping her wings and then those two seaweed shoots let her go.
Then diving bird flew to make water hole at Gamurra Gu-yurra. She tasted the water but it was salty not fresh water. Then she put her poo like white clay on the ground at Gamurra Gu-yurra. The while clay was used for painting, funerals and ceremonies.
Then she continued to fly to Ji-balbal where she put the white clay again and then from Ji-balbal she dived underwater to Gochan Jiny-jirra. When she got there she got out of the water and was flapping her wings. At the same time she was singing. She was using her wings to dry out so that she could fly to Nangak.’ Charmaine Pascoe 2020
‘Minmanyarr is the wetlands area before Mumeka, my homeland. There are always a lot of birds there, including this Kandji (Jabiru). The Kandji belongs to the Yirridja moiety, so I call this bird mother. They are looking for fish and turtle in the billabong area, in the mud. There is also wayuk (water lily) in this design, the flowers can be pink, white or yellow. The bottom part with the roots we call bulparr. Wayuk is good manme (food). We eat the yellow seedpods inside.’ Deborah Wurrkidj