Lightning Snakes*

natural earth pigments on bark

23 x 53 cm

$1,200

Provenance: Direct from the Artist in Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, NT Private Collection NSW
Artwork story: This painting is of Burrut'tji, the Ancestral Yirritja Lightning Snake associated with a Madarrpa clan place called Baraltja. This place has special qualities pertaining to fertility, symbolised by the mixing of waters... with the onset of the wet season, fresh water spreads across the flood plains at Baraltja and the tidal creeks flush brackish water into the sea. This excites Burrut'tji to stand on its tail and to spit lightning towards the Wangupini rain clouds. The lightning can be seen on the horizon over the deep water called Mungurru. Events associated with Burrut'tji are enacted in ceremony.

Click to enlarge

natural earth pigments on bark

23 x 53 cm

$1,200

Provenance: Direct from the Artist in Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, NT Private Collection NSW
Artwork story: This painting is of Burrut'tji, the Ancestral Yirritja Lightning Snake associated with a Madarrpa clan place called Baraltja. This place has special qualities pertaining to fertility, symbolised by the mixing of waters... with the onset of the wet season, fresh water spreads across the flood plains at Baraltja and the tidal creeks flush brackish water into the sea. This excites Burrut'tji to stand on its tail and to spit lightning towards the Wangupini rain clouds. The lightning can be seen on the horizon over the deep water called Mungurru. Events associated with Burrut'tji are enacted in ceremony.