Artiste : Noŋgirrŋa Marawili

Titre de l'œuvre : Yathikpa

Pigments naturels sur écorce

Format : 190 x 78 cm

Provenance et certificat original : centre d'art aborigène de Yirrkala

Référence de la peinture : 4405Z

© Photo : Aboriginal signature with the courtesy of the artist & Buku-Larrngay Mulka.

Explication de l’œuvre :

This Bark painting by Noŋgirrŋa Marawili (1938), represents a shift from the Djapu works of her first solo show and into her Madarrpa clan works from her second major solo show in 2013. The strings of diamonds marks the classic miny’tji of the saltwater estate of Yathikpa. Here Baru the ancestral crocodile, carrying and being burnt by the Ancestral fire crossed the beach from Garraŋali (crocodile’s nest) and entered the saltwater. Baru decided after being soothed of his burns that he would stay in these waters. His sacred powers in line with that of the fire imbues the water there today. Later from the same beach Ancestral Hunters on seeing Dugong took their hunting harpoon and canoe out to the sea of Yathikpa in pursuit.

This is a painting of fire but also simultaneously of water. It is a raw rendition of Madarrpa clan sacred design for the ocean at Yathikpa which is melting and crashing to the horizon.

Collections : Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney NSW. Berndt Museum, University of Western Australia, Perth WA. Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. USA Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin NT. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney NSW. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ACT. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne VIC. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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