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Yawkyawk (Young Woman Spirit) – Sonia Namarnyilk

A black base 4 colour design that is so beautiful it is often stretched and displayed as an artwork. 

Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kuninjku language, meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’.

Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, yawkyawks are usually depicted with the tails of fish. They have long hair, associated with trailing blooms of algae, typically found in Arnhem Land streams and rock pools.

Categories: Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Sonia Namarnyilk

Language: Ndjébbana

Community: Maningrida

Biography:

Since the 1980s women artists have increasingly become involved in the mediums of painting and carving. While women had previously helped their husbands to complete the more arduous cross-hatching components of bark painting, during this period they were encouraged both by their kin and external art advisers to create works under their own authorship. Sonia Namarnyilk (1969) learned in this way from her husband Djorlom and she has developed a reputation for strong form and bold designs. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. 

The artist is also a designer at Babbarra Women’s Centre, a women-centred enterprise that specialises in the production of screen and lino-printed fabrics. Common subject matter for Mamarnyilk includes yawkyawk (female water spirits), turtles and barramundi.

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© the artist / art centre