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Bailinyin – Eileen Bray Joomena

The painting is of the country of Spring Vale Station, Bailinyin. Recently, in the wet season, Rusty traveled to this place with his grandchildren. There they were shown how to catch and kill a goanna, they learnt new Gija words, they learnt about Rusty’s life on this country – it is where he was born and where he worked as a young man. They leant about historical, complicated politics of the land and Rusty’s experience of it and relations to it. In the left hand corner, Rusty has painted red soils plains, the black area is the soil and the yellow ochre parts are the flat country. The grey is Warnidiwal creek. It is tributary of Bullock Hole, a popular rest spot for Rusty and his family and others who lived and worked on Springvale station.

I’ve been given this story to paint, Rusty gave it to me.

-Eileen Bray Joomena