May 2026

111982428916

Nawarlah – Brown River Stingray

We hunt the Nawarlah (Brown River Stingray) during the wet season.  There is a plant with a yellow flower that tells us that it is the right time.  We know it will be fat. 

It is well known that Aboriginal art often depicts images of sacred totems or dreamings of Aboriginal culture. However, the world of the non-sacred also provides a rich source of subject matter for Aboriginal art. Much of the rock art of western Arnhem Land for example features secular topics such as common food animals and plants, depicted because of their economic importance but also merely because of their existence in the environment.

By , ago

111982428915

Nawarlah – Brown River Stingray

We hunt the Nawarlah (Brown River Stingray) during the wet season.  There is a plant with a yellow flower that tells us that it is the right time.  We know it will be fat. 

It is well known that Aboriginal art often depicts images of sacred totems or dreamings of Aboriginal culture. However, the world of the non-sacred also provides a rich source of subject matter for Aboriginal art. Much of the rock art of western Arnhem Land for example features secular topics such as common food animals and plants, depicted because of their economic importance but also merely because of their existence in the environment.

By , ago

111982428914

Nawarlah – Brown River Stingray

We hunt the Nawarlah (Brown River Stingray) during the wet season.  There is a plant with a yellow flower that tells us that it is the right time.  We know it will be fat. 

It is well known that Aboriginal art often depicts images of sacred totems or dreamings of Aboriginal culture. However, the world of the non-sacred also provides a rich source of subject matter for Aboriginal art. Much of the rock art of western Arnhem Land for example features secular topics such as common food animals and plants, depicted because of their economic importance but also merely because of their existence in the environment.

By , ago

111982428913

Nawarlah – Brown River Stingray

We hunt the Nawarlah (Brown River Stingray) during the wet season.  There is a plant with a yellow flower that tells us that it is the right time.  We know it will be fat. 

It is well known that Aboriginal art often depicts images of sacred totems or dreamings of Aboriginal culture. However, the world of the non-sacred also provides a rich source of subject matter for Aboriginal art. Much of the rock art of western Arnhem Land for example features secular topics such as common food animals and plants, depicted because of their economic importance but also merely because of their existence in the environment.

By , ago

116482429196

Seeds and Waterways (Dawn)

I am inspired by the colours in the rocks, the seeds on the ground, and the way water moves through the land. When I paint, I think about the flow of a waterway. Water is always moving, and I follow that movement in my lines and shapes. The forms in my work come from that flow, and my colours come from what I see in Country. I use strong, vivid colours because that is how I see Country in my mind and how i feel when i paint. There is a lot of new life when you find water on Country. It is where you find the beautiful colours and the flowers.  When i paint I feel connected to culture, the old people and memories. 

By , ago

116482429192

Spiritual Serpents

When us Yindjibarndi people could no longer stay at our own Country we moved to Ngarluma Country then something was getting wild over us. The seaside Serpent. So we called on our fresh water snake. They fought a big battle in the sky until the Sea Snake was pushed back out to sea and we were allowed to stay here.

By , ago

377815582429120

Nyangumarta Warrarn (Country)

“This painting represents the rocky outcrop and all the different areas of claypans, and the dark area represents all the jurnga (sands) in the cool time, warri. All the light yellowish colour represents the paru (spinifex).

I like to go out working with the rangers and all the elders. I go out Country with them and they show me all the places, all mapped out with GPS. We mark out all the other places for next time. Sometimes I go out in the ranger’s vehicle and walk around the Country and look around for goanna holes. We try to keep an eye on the animals, look out for all the bilby and skinks and everything with the Nyangumarta Rangers. I go in my spare time because I’m busy you know, I’m busy with my artwork and council meetings.

In the cool dry time, when it’s a little bit warm and cool in the morning, that’s when we do the fire patch burning. When we doing it also depends on the wind, the warngal, which way it’s blowing. We do that because it’s a big part of controlled fires. Wild fires, we don’t want them, they destroy the animals and their living area, destroy the Country. We do it too for the regrowth. When I went back to Country a couple of weeks ago, all the burned up area had a little bit of regrowth after a little bit of rain.”
 – Edward Badal

This artwork honours Nyangumarta Country — from the long sweep of Eighty Mile Beach and coastal flats to the rolling sand dunes and salt lakes of the Great Sandy Desert. It holds the movement between saltwater and desert: tides, reefs and mangroves to the west; dunes, claypans and waterholes to the east.

Lines flow like wind across spinifex and waves in the ocean; dots gather where waters sit after rain; colours shift from deep blues to desert reds and whites of saltpan. The painting also reflects the ongoing work of Nyangumarta families and rangers to look after Country — sea and land — guided by community plans and Indigenous Protected Area management.

By , ago

377815582429119

Kulyakartu

“This painting is about all the rocks and kurru (creeks) all around Kulyakartu and Kirriwirri. We went camping there for two weeks, we went to Wirnpa first and then to Kirriwirri. We camped in the nice flat ground in the open when we got to Kulyakartu. We visited the waterholes and soaks, cleaned them out, and made sure there were no dead animals. It was typical ranger work — making sure the animals and Country were surviving. We listened to Muuki and my grandfather talk about how they walked around trying to find waterholes, how my grandfather finally came to Bidyadanga, and how he met my grandmother.

I painted these paintings at home in Bidyadanga, near the ocean. The paintings are of Kulyakartu, which is in the Great Sandy Desert. There is a lot of spinifex, sandhills, wildlife, and little flowers like frangipanis — blue, red, and pink flowers just along the road when you’re driving.

When I’m not in the desert, I feel like I want to paint about it, and painting makes me feel like I want to be there. I think about Muuki and his brothers’ wishes for us to see the Country and be there. It’s important to paint about the Country because our Elders looked after the Country long before us.

When you look out of a plane, you can see lots of different colours, but I chose blues and greens because that’s how I want to express how I see the landscape. When people see my paintings, they might say, ‘That could be the ocean,’ but I say, ‘No, that’s Kulyakartu, the desert.’ Blues and greens make me feel comfortable. For me, I like to keep colours separate and not mix them together.”
 – Chloe Jadai

This artwork shares the story of Kulyakartu, a vast and peaceful area north-east of the community, on the edge of Nyangumarta and Martu Country. Kulyakartu is a place of wide open skies, long claypans, sandhills and soft grasses that come alive after rain.

Families remember camping there, visiting waterholes, looking for goanna and bush foods, watching birds, and travelling with old people who knew every dune, track and soak. The painting celebrates the beauty and calm of Kulyakartu, often shown through soft lines and dots that follow the movement of water and sand. It honours the knowledge of where to find water, how to move across Country, and the deep belonging felt when returning to ancestral places.

Through this work, the artist invites viewers to feel that stillness and connection — the strength of Country, memory and family.

By , ago

220982349941

Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney – My Grandmothers Country

I still hunt my Grand Mothers country for goanna, bush medicine and yams.

I hunt all year round, hunting and walking through the country makes me happy.  When I look at the distant hills I can feel my grandmother.  Bush flowers are everywhere.

Painting and printing my grandmother’s country reminds about those times.



Dimensions: 30 x 30 cm Lino Print – Charcoal S/H 300gsm

By , ago

220982349940

Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney – My Grandmothers Country

I still hunt my Grand Mothers country for goanna, bush medicine and yams.

I hunt all year round, hunting and walking through the country makes me happy.  When I look at the distant hills I can feel my grandmother.  Bush flowers are everywhere.

Painting and printing my grandmother’s country reminds about those times.



Dimensions: 30 x 30 cm Lino Print – Charcoal S/H 300gsm

By , ago