Paruku to Purnululu: A parallel school of Kimberley art by Everywhen Artspace |McCulloch & McCulloch

Paruku to Purnululu

A parallel school of Kimberley art

Two decades of Red Rock Art

Front: Lloyd Kwillla, Desert Winds at Kulyayi, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 2016, 180 x 150 cm (detail).

Left: George Wallaby, Lirrejapal (Frog Dreaming) at Paruku, 1998, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm (detail).

Over page: Nancy Noonju, Waterholes at Cherrabun Station, 2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 90 x 120 cm (detail).

Text © Susan McCulloch & Red Rock Art/The artists Design ©Lisa Reidy Images ©The artists Published by Everywhen Artspace & Salt Contemporary Art

Salt Contemporary Art in partnership with Everywhen Artspace September 30-October 23, 2022

Paruku to Purnululu A parallel school of Kimberley art Two decades of Red Rock Art

EXHIBITINGARTISTS GEORGE WALLABY JIMMY McKENZIE JOCK MOSQUITO LLOYD KWILLA NANCY Noonju NED JOHNS NELLIE GORDON RosieMulligan

INTRODUCTION

In 1992, Jenny and Kevin Kelly, former Museum Victoria exhibitions manager and their young family left Melbourne for Kununurra, WA.

Kevin had been offered the job of exhibitions officer and later manager of that town’s Aboriginal art centre, Waringarri Arts. It was a move that was to lead him to work closely with all the great founding Kimberley ochre artists including Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie, Jack Britten, Freddie Timms and many others.

It also inspired the Kellys to later establish their own art studio and gallery Red Rock Art in Kununurra to work with artists not represented by Waringarri Arts or the later-established Warmun Arts.

From 1997 to 2016, Kevin and Jenny worked with up to 40 artists originally from the Great Sandy Desert in the south to Wave Hill in the north who were living in Kununurra or communities just outside the town itself.

In effect, the artists of Red Rock Arts created a parallel school of Kimberley ochre painting to that of Waringarri, Warmun and the Wandjina painters of Kalumburu and Derby

Paruku to Purnululu brings together more than 30 paintings by eight significant Red Rock artists offering a unique opportunity to explore the art of this important school of Kimberley ochre painting.

It includes rare works by George Wallaby, senior custodian of Paruku or Lake Gregory; paintings of Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) by Jimmy McKenzie, son of the famous late artist Queenie McKenzie and signature ‘sugarbag’ or honey dreaming works by Ned Johns from Wave Hill –grandson of the famous Vincent Lingiari whose photograph with Gough Whitlam at the handover of the region to its Aboriginal owners, marked a momentous occasion in contemporary Aboriginal history.

In the 1980s, Jock Mosquito was in the first group of Kimberley artists to start painting in ochre, having worked alongside Rover Thomas as a stockman and assisting in painting the Krill Krill (dancing) boards for Thomas’s ceremonial dances.

Nellie Gordon’s paintings include those that provide an important record of Kimberley women’s ceremonies and Nancy Noonju’s imaginative depictions of ‘wind on water’ are painted in the soft pink ochre that became her signature colour.

Youngest artist in the group and one of the last to paint with Red Rock Art, Lloyd Kwilla details renditions of his waterhole country in the Great Sandy desert, inherited from his father, Billy Thomas (Karntakarnta).

Susan McCulloch

September 2022

George Wallaby

George Wallaby was the senior custodian of the vast interior lake, Paruku (Lake Gregory) in the Great Sandy Desert, WA. His traditional name was Paruku (or as he pronounced it, “Baragu”). A respected law man and painter, Paruku was known as ‘the rainmaker’. His dreaming (totem) was flood water and nearly all his work shows country around Sturt Creek and Paruku.

During the tropical monsoons Sturt Creek becomes a major floodway and fills the lake.

In this work the artist has depicted the myriad of channels that make up Sturt Creek just before it becomes Lake Gregory.

George Wallaby,

Floodwater, 2001, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 90 x 120 cm, MM6090 | $5900

George Wallaby

During the tropical monsoons Sturt Creek becomes a major floodway and fills the lake. In this work the artist has depicted the myriad of channels that make up Sturt Creek just before it becomes Lake Gregory.

George Wallaby, Lirrejapal (Frog) Dreaming, 1998, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm, MM6097

| $6900

Jimmy McKenzie

Gija painter Jimmy McKenzie is the son of the famous artist Queenie McKenzie – one of the founders of the Warmun school of Kimberley ochre painting.

This painting depicts the beehive shaped hills of the Bungle Bungle massif on Texas Downs Station. Jimmy was born near Purnululu and spent all his early life growing up and working the stock camps with his mother Queenie McKenzie on and around this country. Purnululu has become a significant tourist attraction and many thousands of visitors arrive each dry season to fly over, camp and walk the creeks and ravines of the Bungle Bungle Range.

Jimmy McKenzie, Purnululu – Bungle Bungle, 2009, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm, MM6080

| $6900

Jimmy McKenzie

Gija painter Jimmy McKenzie is the son of the famous artist Queenie McKenzie – one of the founders of the Warmun school of Kimberley ochre painting.

Jimmy McKenzie, Purnululu – Bungle Bungle, 2010, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 80 x 100 cm, MM6095

| $3900

Jimmy McKenzie

This painting shows country on Texas Downs Station in the East Kimberley, home to Wirdim, one of the artist’s favourite places. The winding drive to Wirdim climbs through ridge country which form the foothills of the Carr Boyd Ranges.

Jimmy McKenzie, Wirdim (Red Butt), 2010, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 80 x 100 cm, MM6096

| $3900

Jock Mosquito

Born in 1944 Jock Mosquito was a senior Jaru elder of the East Kimberley. He spoke 17 local languages. He was born on Nicholson Station bordering on desert country in the Northern Territory. He spent his working life based at Nicholson and, like other stockmen of his day, mustered on surrounding stations. With no formal education, he has avidly participated in important cultural and business matters in his country. He was Chairperson of the influential Wunun Regional Council and was a leading figure in Aboriginal Affairs in the Kimberley. He was one of the earliest Kimberley artists to work in ochre when he started painting c.1984, in works notable for strongly clearly defined depictions of landforms and men’s travelling stories.

He worked with famed artist, the late Rover Thomas, as a stockman and assisted in painting the Krill Krill (dancing) boards for Rover’s ceremomial dances, alongside the senior ochre artists Jack Britten, Hector Jandany, George Mung Mung and Churchill Cann. These men were regarded as the cultural leaders and custodians of Gija country and surrounding regions.

This painting depicts the hills of Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) a major land form in the East Kimberley south of Kununurra.

Jock Mosquito, Bungle Bungle Country, 2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm, MM6082

| $6900

Jock Mosquito

He worked with famed artist, the late Rover Thomas, as a stockman and assisted in painting the Kuril Kuril (dancing) boards for Rover’s corroboree, alongside the senior ochre artists Jack Britten, Hector Jandany, George Mung Mung and Churchill Cann. These men were regarded as the cultural leaders and custodians of Gija country and surrounding regions.

This painting depicts the hills of Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) a major land form in the East Kimberley south of Kununurra.

Jock Mosquito, High Country on Texas Downs – Purnululu, 2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 80 x 100 cm, MM6094

| $3900

Lloyd Kwilla

Born in Derby in 1980, Lloyd Kwilla is the son of the late Billy Thomas (Karntakarnta), painter, medicine man and senior Lawman from the Great Sandy Desert. Kwilla spent most of his childhood at Wangkatjungka community on Christmas Creek Station where he acquired a love of the landscape that surrounded him, and an intimate knowledge of its secrets. In the desert regions of Australia water and waterholes play an important role in the Indigenous people’s lifestyle, these waterholes were created in the Dreamtime (Jumangkarni) and are all connected by subterranean tunnels. For the Wangkajunga and Walmajarri people of the Great Sandy Desert knowledge of these waterholes was crucial to survival while living a traditional lifestyle. As a boy Lloyd walked much of the desert with his father Billy Thomas (Karntakarnta ) and knows the importance of these waterholes and understands their connections well.

This painting depicts Kulyayi during the windy time of the dry season a waterhole in the Great Sandy Desert (Well 42 on the Canning Stock Route). This is Lloyd’s birthplace given to him by Billy Thomas. Much of Lloyd’s work centred around this place, which he and his family would visit regularly to actively maintain it.

This work was inspired by a visit during the dry season when the strong easterly winds blow across the desert, these winds improve conditions for hunting as they can be utilised to disguise sound and smell.

Lloyd Kwilla, Desert Winds at Kulyayi Waterhole, 2010, Kimberley ochres on canvas 100 x 140 cm, MM6111 $6900

Lloyd Kwilla

This painting shows a small waterhole close to the Canning Stock Route called ‘Kulyayi’ all around are sandhills, ‘Tali’ that are ablaze with wildfire.

Lloyd Kwilla, Bushfire Series – Kulyayi Waterhole, 2010, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm, MM6112 | $6900 Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla Warla

Warla is a place in the Great Sandy Desert, southwest of Balgo Hills in northern Western Australia. It is a very significant and sacred place that was critical to the survival of people when living a traditional lifestyle. It contains hundreds of rock holes, many of which are sacred burial places and many are important waterholes crucial to survival if travelling through this area.

Lloyd remembers as a young man travelling through this country with his father Billy Thomas who describes this country as ‘flat like an airport’ and that visitors should go ‘right round’ when the big rains come, the flat expanse becomes a lake and as the water recedes, the rock holes are renewed with fresh water.

2015, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6113 | $6500

Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla Warla

2015, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6114 | $6500

Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla Warla

2015, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6115 | $6500

Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla Desert Winds at Kulyayi 2016, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 180 x 150 cm, MM6118 | $17800

The work was inspired by a visit during the dry season when the strong easterly winds blow across the desert, these winds improve conditions for hunting as they can be utilised to disguise sound and smell.

Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla Bushfire Series – Kulyayi Waterhole 2013, Kimberley ochres on canvas 90 x 120 cm, MM6146 | $6500

The artist has spent most of his life living in his traditional country on the Northern fringes of the Great Sandy Desert, Northern Western Australia. His father Billy Thomas (Karntakartna) has taught him a great deal about land and its features.

This painting shows a small waterhole close to the Canning Stock Route called ‘Kulyayi’, all around are sandhills, ‘Tali’, that are ablaze with wildfire.

Nancy Noonju

Nancy Noonju was particular about collecting her own ochre from particular sites, crushing them manually and mixing them into paint using a binder. She was especially fond of a soft pink from one of these sites, which became her signature colour.

This work shows a popular camping place where there was lots of water holes which provided fish and drinking water.

Nancy Noonju, Waterholes at Cherrabun Station, 2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 90 x 120 cm, MM6083

| $5900

Nancy Noonju

Nancy Noonju was born c. 1940 on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Northern Western Australia and spent much of her childhood and working life on Cherrabun Station working as a camp cook and station cook. She had fond memories of ‘Holiday’ times during the wet season when station workers went back to country. Nancy Noonju was particular about collecting her own ochre from particular sites, crushing them manually and mixing them into paint using a binder. She was especially fond of a soft pink from one of these sites, which became her signature colour.

This work shows a popular camping place where there was lots of water holes which provided fish and drinking water.

Nancy Noonju, Waterholes at Cherrabun Station, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 90 x 120 cm, MM6084

| $5900

Nancy Noonju

Her Aboriginal Dreaming is Ngarbel Ngarbel - the wind blowing on water. During the wet season in the Kimberley region monsoonal rains are often accompanied by cyclonic winds, the many waterholes and streams are filled with water. In this painting the artist has depicted the water surface on the streams and waterholes on Cherrabun Station being blown into waves – Ngarbel Ngarbel.

Noonju painted this occurrence extensively using different coloured lines and dots to create patterns that give the work interesting depth. Nancy Noonju was particular about collecting her own ochre from particular sites, crushing them manually and mixing them into paint using a binder. She was especially fond of a soft pink from one of these sites, which became her signature colour.

Nancy Noonju, Ngarbel Ngarbel, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 60 x 120 cm, MM6091

| $3800

Nancy Noonju

In this painting, she was remembering the biggest waterhole on Cherrabun Station. She referred to this waterhole as Ngapa, which in Walmajarri means water. Noonju’s dreaming was water and wind, “Ngarbel Ngarbel” and this waterhole had particular significance for her.

Nancy

Noonju, Ngapa, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 60 x 120 cm, MM6092 | $3800

Nancy Noonju

Nancy Noonju’s Dreaming was Ngarbel Ngarbel – the wind blowing on water. During the wet season in the Kimberley region monsoonal rains are often accompanied by cyclonic winds, the many waterholes and streams are filled with water. In this painting she depicted the water surface on the streams and waterholes on Cherrabun Station being blown into waves – Ngarbel Ngarbel. Noonju painted this occurrence extensively using different coloured lines and dots to create patterns that gave these works interesting depth and sense of movement.

Nancy Noonju, Ngarbel Ngarbel, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas,

60 x 60 cm, MM6103 | $2500

Nancy Noonju

Nancy Noonju, Ngarbel Ngarbel, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas,

60 x 60 cm, MM6104 | $2500

Ned Johns

Born c.1941, Johns was from Wave Hill, NT, and was the grandson of the famous land rights leader Vincent Lingiari, who led the Wave Hill walk off, which resulted in the Whitlam Government handing over the station to the Gurindji people. Johns became a stockman on the station, and travelled extensively – working on Argyle, Lissadell, Carlton and Texas Downs Stations in WA and over the border in the Northern Territory. He was a drover and also travelled to Queensland.

Ned Johns’ cultural totem was the Sugarbag Dreaming, associated with country near Wave Hill. Sugarbag is the honey and wax that is gathered from hives of native bees. Generally, the hives are located in hollows in trees. When hunting Aboriginal men and women would set about looking for the bees and once they had located a hive they would cut the tree down and extract the sugarbag from the hollow. Once collected they would then place it in a billy can of water, boil it and drink it, or eat it whole without boiling it. After boiling the wax was soft which made it pliable when used in the production of spears, axes and dress items. Traditionally the honey was crucial as a glucose supplement to a bush tucker diet.

Ned Johns painted this story almost exclusively with a central point and radiating lines. Different colour dots are used to create patterns (mosaics) that represent the honeycomb/sugarbag that give the work interesting depth.

Ned Johns,Sugarbag Dreaming, Kimberley ochres on canvas,

2002,

100 x 140 cm, MM6081 | $6900

Ned Johns

Ned Johns’ cultural totem was the Sugarbag Dreaming, associated with country near Wave Hill. Sugarbag is the honey and wax that is gathered from hives of native bees. Generally the hives are located in hollows in trees. When hunting Aboriginal men and women would set about looking for the bees and once they had located a hive they would cut the tree down and extract the sugarbag from the hollow. Once collected they would then place it in a billy can of water, boil it and drink it, or eat it whole without boiling it. After boiling the wax was soft which made it pliable when used in the production of spears, axes and dress items. Traditionally the honey was crucial as a glucose supplement to a bush tucker diet.

Ned Johns Sugarbag Dreaming

2003, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 45 x 70 cm, MM6108 | $3500

Ned Johns

Ned Johns Sugarbag Dreaming

2003, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 45 x 70 cm, MM6109 | $3500

Nellie Gordon

Nellie Gordon was born c 1934 on the banks of Sturt Creek on the Northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert. Nellie spent her childhood in Guru country south of Halls Creek. Much of her working life was spent working as a station cook and housekeeper on pastoral stations in the East Kimberley. In the mid 70’s the introduction of the equal rights bill for the Aboriginal workforce meant that many employees were forced off stations into town settlements such as Halls Creek. Nellie lived here for some time before moving to the Kununurra area with her husband George Wallaby, where they both began to paint full time.

During her earlier years Nellie lived a traditional life and practised ceremony regularly. Even during her years as a station employee, there was opportunity to practice Law and ceremony during the ‘lay off’ or wet season and in later years, Nellie took every opportunity to attend cultural ceremonies organised by various Indigenous groups across the Kimberley.

This painting depicts a ceremonial design that was painted in a mixture of white ochre and fat on the breasts of women and girls, in preparation for dance performed at annual ceremonial women’s business. The different sized shapes indicate the age of the women involved in the ceremony. The curved pattern is the paint on the breast, the lines between represent the ‘burnu’ short sticks held between the hands of each dancer.

Nellie Gordon Women’s Ceremony

2008, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6085 | $5900

Nellie Gordon

Nellie Gordon was born c 1934 on the banks of Sturt Creek on the Northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert, Nellie Gordon spent her childhood in Guru country south of Halls Creek. Much of her working life was spent working as a station cook and housekeeper on pastoral stations in the East Kimberley. In the mid 70’s the introduction of the equal rights bill for the Aboriginal workforce meant that many employees were forced off stations into town settlements such as Halls Creek. Nellie lived here for some time before moving to the Kununurra area with her husband George Wallaby, where they both began to paint full time.

This work shows country near Mulan Community at Lake Gregory. Sugarbag is the term used to describe bush honey. In the desert regions south of Halls Creek in WA a number of plants provide a nectar when flowering. One such plant, a small grevillea, flowers profusely after the wet season and each flower drips with nectar which can be eaten directly from the plant.

Nellie Gordon, Sugarbag, 2001, Kimberley ochres on paper, 90

x 120 cm, MM6086 | $5900

Nellie Gordon

Nellie Gordon was born c 1934 on the banks of Sturt Creek on the Northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert, Nellie Gordon spent her childhood in Guru country south of Halls Creek. Much of her working life was spent working as a station cook and housekeeper on pastoral stations in the East Kimberley. In the mid 70s the introduction of the equal rights bill for the Aboriginal workforce meant that many employees were forced off stations into town settlements such as Halls Creek. Nellie lived here for some time before moving to the Kununurra area with her husband George Wallaby, where they both began to paint full time.

This work, Parnany Rijikarrinyu – Old Women’s Ceremony, is one of a series of works painted to record and remember the role of women in traditional ceremony. The semi circular shapes in the work represent the breasts of women painted for ceremony. The larger shapes are those breasts of older women - Parnany, and the smaller shapes those of young girls - Wamala. The women used white or yellow ochre mixed with fat as paint and each group of women used a particular design. This design was consistent throughout the group and was like a signature indicating the country you belong to and the dreaming of that country

Nellie Gordon Parnany Rijikarrinyu –Old Women’s Ceremony

2008, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6087 | $5900

Nellie Gordon

Every wet season when the rains come Sturt Creek fills and begins to flow filling up thousands of waterholes along the way widening as it makes its way into the Great Sandy Desert then it stops abruptly as it fills Paraku (Lake Gregory).The painting shows a myriad of connecting channels and full waterholes - depicted with the inner circle, these waterholes will become crucial sources of food and water when the water recedes in the dry years that might follow.

Nellie Gordon, Floodwater, 2005, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 90 x 120 cm, MM6088

| $5900

Nellie Gordon

This work shows Sturt Creek (at the bottom) and the hills that surround the country. The artist had a strong connection with this place as it was her birth place. It is also the place where white ochre can be found and the artist spent many days camping here and collecting bush tucker. Bush Foods were an important diet of the Walmajarri people when people lived a traditional lifestyle.

Nellie Gordon Sturt Creek

2002, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm, MM6089 | $5900

Nellie Gordon

This work shows Lirrejapal (Frog) Dreaming. When the water recedes and the ground begins to harden and crack Lirrejapal goes underground and can hibernate for many years or until the next flood comes.

Nellie Gordon, Lirrejapal (Frog) Dreaming, 2003, Kimberley ochres on canvas,

60 x 150 cm, MM6093 | $4200

Nellie Gordon

This work shows a women’s camp, depicted by smaller U shapes, the camps in the middle are surrounded by bush wind breaks. On either side of the work depict small tracks left by the women walking to the nearby waterhole.

Nellie Gordon Women’s Camp

2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 80 x 60 cm, MM6101 | $3500

Nellie Gordon

This work shows a women’s camp (the smaller U Shapes). In the centre the work is a coolamon where the women have been collecting bush potatoes.

Nellie Gordon Women’s Camp

2006, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 80 x 60 cm, MM6102 | $3500

Nellie Gordon

Every wet season when the rains come Sturt Creek fills and begins to flow filling up thousands of waterholes along the way, widening as it makes its way into the Great Sandy Desert then it stops abruptly as it fills Paraku (Lake Gregory). The painting shows a myriad of connecting channels and full waterholes - depicted with the inner circle, these waterholes will become crucial sources of food and water when the water recedes in the dry years that might follow.

Nellie Gordon Floodwater

2009, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 70 x 45 cm, MM6105 | $3300

Nellie Gordon

This painting depicts Sturt Creek as it approaches Paruku (Lake Gregory) in the Great Sandy Desert. The creek breaks up into a myriad of linked waterways and soak holes, as these all start drying up after the wet season finishes. Water however can still be found by digging soak wells or ‘jumu’.

Nellie Gordon Jumu – Soakwater

2009, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 70 x 45 cm, MM6106 | $3300

Nellie Gordon

Nellie Gordon Jumu – Soakwater

2009, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 70 x 45 cm, MM6107 | $3300

Nellie Gordon

This painting depicts Warrajarrakura - Bush Onion - found on the banks of the Sturt Creek, collected and roasted on the fire. Nellie remembers her days collecting bush tucker and living off the land in the traditional way. ater however can still be found by digging soak wells or ‘jumu’.

Nellie Gordon, Warrajarrakurra – Bush Onion, 2009, Kimberley ochres on canvas, 45 x 70 cm, MM6110

| $3300

Rosie Mulligan

Rosie was born on Noonanbah Station, near Fitzroy Crossing in the mid 1940’s. As a girl she would care for her younger sisters while her mother worked. When she was a little older she herself worked in the station homestead. Rosie has mostly happy memories of these early station days, particularly the quiet wet season ‘holiday time’ when workers were free to practice more traditional ways. She remembers going bush with a big tent her parents made, to go hunting and engage in ceremony.

Rosie began painting with Red Rock Art in 2008. She favours images of bush tucker and medicinal plants, as well as a traditional river story passed on to her by her father ‘Billocky Billy’. This work shows a vine like plant that grows amongst the spinifex and has medicinal qualities used to treat stings and bites.

Rosie Mulligan, Bush Medicine Plant, 2008, Kimberley ochres on canvas,

60 x 80 cm, MM6100 | $2900

Biographies

George Tjangala Wallaby 1930-2001, was of the Walmajarri language group, and Jangala skin group.

He was one of the main custodians of the large interior salt and fresh water lake - Lake Gregory (Paruku or as the artist pronounced it “Baraku”) in the Great Sandy Desert. It was also his traditional name, and where he was born, with Floodwater Dreaming. As a young man, he worked the Canning Stock Route droving cattle and, when stock work ceased after the introduction of equal wages in the 1960s, he moved to Kununurra.

A respected law man and painter, Paruku was known there as the ‘rainmaker’. His dreaming (totem) was flood water. Nearly all of Wallaby’s work shows country around Sturt Creek and Paruku. During the tropical monsoons Sturt Creek becomes a major floodway and fills Paruku. He depicted the myriad of channels that make up Sturt Creek just before it becomes the lake, depicting his dreaming of floodwater, showing country around Sturt Creek in the Great Sandy Desert that is affected by flooding during the wet seasons of the north. Other work is of Lirrejapal (Frog ) Dreaming country on Sturt Creek in the Great Sandy Desert. When the floodwater recedes and the ground begins to harden and crack (sometimes as symmetrically as the painting suggests) Lirrejapal goes under ground and can hibernate for many years or until the next flood comes. His work was exhibited in Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route, WA at the National Museum of Australia.

Jimmy McKenzie was born on Texas Downs Station near Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) in the East Kimberley and spent all his early life growing up and working the stock camps with his mother Queenie McKenzie on and around this country. His work variously depicted Purnululu or country on Texas Downs Station in the East Kimberley, home to Wirdim, one of the ar6st’s favourite places. The winding drive to Wirdim climbs through ridge country which form the foothills of the Carr Boyd Ranges. His Purnululu works depict the beehive shaped hills of the Bungle Bungle massif on Texas Downs Station in the East Kimberley. Jimmy was born near here and spent all his early life growing up and working the stock camps with his mother Queenie McKenzie on and around this country Purnululu has become a significant tourist attraction and many thousands of visitors arrive each dry season to fly over, camp and walk the creeks and ravines of the Bungle Bungle Range.

Jock Mosquito c. 1944-2017 was a senior Jaru elder of the East Kimberley. He spoke 17 local languages. He was born on Nicholson Station bordering on desert country south of Kununurra in the Northern Territory He spent his working life based at Nicholson and, like other stockmen of his day, mustered on surrounding stations. He did not know his mother – his father and grandmother “grew him up”. Mosquito had the opportunity

to go to Beagle Bay for schooling, but his father and grandmother did not wish him to go. Later Jock married Doreen, a Gidja woman, and they had six boys, two girls and forty grandchildren. Mosquito was known as a real ‘family man ’ and they were a close family unit. With no formal education, he avidly participated in important cultural and business matters in his country He was Chairperson of the influential Wunun Regional Council and a leading figure in Aboriginal Affairs in the Kimberley. He was one of the earliest Kimberley artists to work in ochre when he started painting c.1984, in paintings notable for strongly clearly defined depictions of land forms and men’s travelling stories. He worked with famed artist, the late Rover Thomas, as a stockman and assisted in painting the Krill Krill (dancing) boards for Thomas’s ceremonial dances, alongside the senior ochre Artists Jack Britten, Hector Jandany, George Mung Mung and Churchill Cann. These men were regarded as the cultural leaders and custodians of the Kitja country and surrounds. His work oben depicts the hills of Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) a major land form in the East Kimberley south of Kununurra in Western Australia. Always a strong artist, after suffering a stroke in early 2005, Mosquito developed a more minimal style, with the content of his works leaning towards landscape rather than some of the intricate desert designs he executed previously. Mosquito clearly stated that what he paints is his country – the country for which he was traditional elder, and the country that he lived and worked in all his life.

These places are significant sites in the artist’s life and significant sites in the geography of the East Kimberley and adjacent desert country. His work has been included in solo and group exhibitions nationally, and is held in the collection of the NGA.

Lloyd Kwilla was born in Derby in 1980, the son of the late Billy Thomas (Karntakartakarnta), painter, medicine man and senior Lawman from the Great Sandy Desert. Kwilla spent most of his childhood at Wangkatjungka community on Christmas Creek station, where he acquired a love of the landscape that surrounded him, and an intimate knowledge of its secrets. He is now raising five young children here in the country of his forebears, and despite his young age has taken a leading role in political and cultural issues across a broad tract of country in which he has connections. A fluent English speaker, he has been the community supervisor and council chair and works also at the Wangkajungka school. Kwilla learned to paint alongside his father, and while this influence can be seen in some work, he has steadily developed his own distinct idiom. Using only the richly coloured ochres gathered from country, he boldly applies the hand-ground pigments to canvas in lush swathes, creating work of dramatic intensity. Art lovers have been mesmerised by his mellifluous manipulation of warm colour and dazzling white, layered to depict

Nancy Noonju (c. 1940-2007) was born on the northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Northern Western Australia and spent much of her childhood and working life on Cherrabun Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She worked on the station as a camp cook. She had fond memories of ‘holiday’ times during the wet season when station workers went back to country. She later lived in Derby, WA. Her Aboriginal Dreaming was Ngarbel Ngarbel – the wind blowing on water. During the wet season in the Kimberley region monsoonal rains are often accompanied by cyclonic winds, the many waterholes and streams are filled with water. Noonju’s work variously depicted the water surface on the streams and waterholes on Cherrabun Station being blown into waves –Ngarbel Ngarbel. She painted this occurrence extensively using different

coloured lines and dots to create patterns that give the work interesting depth. Other work depicted a popular camping place where there was lots of water holes which provided fish and drinking water. Noonju collected her own ochre from particular sites in the Kimberley region and crushed them manually and mixed them into a paint using a binder. Her work was featured in several group exhibitions nationally. She lived at Emu Creek Community near Kununurra, WA, until she passed away in 2007.

Ned Johns was born c.1941, Wave Hill, NT, and was the grandson of the famous land rights leader Vincent Lingiari, who led the Wave Hill walk off, which resulted in the Whitlam Government handing over the station to the Gurindji people. Johns became a stockman on the station, and travelled extensively and worked on Argyle, Lissadell, Carlton and Texas Downs Stations in WA and over the border in the Northern Territory. He was a drover and also travelled to Queensland. Johns tells of his time as a Police Tracker at Police Hole in the N.T., noting he preferred to go out alone, as he says he could always get the boys’ confidence and bring them back, but if others were with him, they would run away and make it worse for them. When working at Argyle, Ned was bringing back some bulls and a horse rolled on him. He was taken to Wyndham Hospital. He never commented on this event, but it would have been a very painful trip and the local doctor had him airlifted to Perth. Despite having a steel plate in his leg he returned to riding for many years after the accident. He lived with his wife Maggie at

82 aerial perspectives of the Jumu (waterholes) and Tali (sand hills) of the Great Sandy Desert. His works share the sensual richness of Thomas’s thickly applied ochres yet possess his own highly distinctive style. He was hailed as one of the top Australian undiscovered artists by Australian Art Collector magazine and his work has featured in seven successful solo exhibitions. These have included a sellout exhibition in Darwin at the same time as the NATSIAA 2007, a sell out show in June 2008 in London at Rebecca Hossack Gallery and several highly successful exhibitions at Salt Comporary, Queenscliff, Vic.in partnership with McCulloch & McCulloch and 20 + commissioned works. Having spent his whole life in this country, Kwilla knows both its grandeur and intricacies intimately and portrays these with both surety and subtlety.

Emu Creek Community via Kununurra. Due to an accident which rendered him blind in one eye, he could no longer paint the intricate ochre dot art for which he was known. Never one to sit down, he then painted landscape in ochre, with strong imaging and meaningful stories. Ned Johns’ cultural totem was the Sugarbag Dreaming, associated with country near Wave Hill station in the western Northern Territory. Sugarbag is the honey and wax that is gathered from hives of naIve bees. Generally the hives are located in hollows in trees. When hunting they would set about looking for the bees and once they had located a hive they would cut the tree down and extract the sugurbag from the hollow. Once collected they would then place it in a billy can of water, boil it and drink it, or eat it whole without boiling it. After boiling the wax was soft which made it pliable when used in the production of spears, axes and dress items. Traditionally the honey was crucial as a glucose supplement to a bush tucker diet. Johns painted this story almost exclusively with a central point and radiating lines. Different colour dots are used to create patterns (mosaics) that represent the honeycomb/sugarbag and give his paintings great depth.

Nellie Gordon is a Walmajarri women born c.1934 on the banks of Sturt Creek near Billiluna community on the Northern edge of the Great Sandy Desert. She spent her childhood in Guru country south of Halls Creek. During her earlier years Nellie lived a traditional life and practiced ceremony regularly, even during her years as a station employee there was opportunity

to practice Law and ceremony during the ‘lay off’ or wet season. Even in later years, Nellie took every opportunity to attend cultural ceremonies organised by various Indigenous groups across the Kimberley. Much of her working life was spent working as a station cook and housekeeper on pastoral stations in the East Kimberley. In the mid 70’s the introduction of the equal rights bill for the Aboriginal workforce meant that many employees were forced off stations into town settlements such as Halls Creek. Nellie lived here for some time before moving to the Kununurra area with her husband George Wallaby, where they both began to paint full time. Her works depict ceremonial design, including Parnany Rijikarrinyu – Old Women Ceremony, a series of works painted to record and remember the role of women in traditional ceremony. Semi circular shapes in the work represent the breasts of women painted for ceremony that was painted in a mixture of white or yellow ochre and fat, in preparation for dance performed at annual ceremonial women’s business. The curved patten is the paint on the breast, the lines between represent the ‘burnu’ short sticks held between the hands of each dancer. The larger shapes are those breasts of older women – Parnany and the smaller shapes those of young girls – Wamala. Each group of women used a particular design. This design was consistent throughout the group and was like a signature indicating the country you belong to and the dreaming of that country. Gordon participated in joint exhibitions throughout Australia in company with

Nancy Noonju. In 2001, she, along with senior Aboriginal artists/Elders George Wallaby, Violet Campbell and Billy Thomas made a significant contribution to an indepth study regarding the history of Paraku – Lake Gregory Region for the Australian Government, focusing on the cultural significance and dreamtime history of the lake and the arrival and effect of white settlers in the area.

Rosie Mulligan was born on Noonanbah Station, near Fitzroy Crossing in the mid 1940’s. As a girl she would care for her younger sisters while her mother worked. When she was a little older she herself worked in the station homestead. Rosie had mostly happy memories of these early station days, particularly the quiet wet season ‘holiday time’ when workers were free to practice more traditional ways. She remembers going bush with a big tent her parents made, to go hunting and engage in ceremony. Rosie began painting with Red Rock Gallery in 2008. She favoured images of bush tucker and medicinal plants, as well as a traditional river story passed on to her by her father ‘Billocky Billy’. Her work often showed a vine like plant that grows among the spinifex and has medicinal qualities use to treat stings and bites. In 2016 Mulligan was featured in a short documentary film as part of NITV ‘Our Stories’ series, as a holder and carrier of many of the Nyikina people’s cultural stories, noting that she is considered an important woman who many times leads the singing when it comes to cultural times.

Right: Ned Johns, Sugarbag Dreaming, 140 x 100 cm (detail).

Paruku to Purnululu Salt Contemporary Art in partnership with Everywhen Artspace 33-35 Hesse Street, Queenscliff, Vic 322 September 30-October 23, 2022 salt-art.com.au