Artist: Charlene Carrington| Title: Ngarrarroon Country| Year: 2010 | Medium: natural earth pigments on canvas | Dimensions: 90 x 120 cm
PROVENANCE
Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery Cat No. 14183
Cooee Art Gallery, NSW
EXHIBITED
Passing On Tradition - New and Old Kimberley, June 2010, Cooee Art Gallery
ARTWORK STORY
Ngarrgarroon is the Kitja name for Texas Downs. This is my family's country. The part I have painted is to the north and centre of the Station. I have shown Red Butte Country, Joel Springs, Wagon Creek and the tracks leading to the old Homestead. Painted in dry time, but with the small tributaries of the big Ord River still with some water in them, this is a very beautiful part of Texas. To the south of the Red Butte is Buffalo Hole, where my aunty was born in the bush (International Artist Nancy Nodea and full sister to Charlene's father, Churchill Cann). In that part, Dad tells me that an old woman from Mabel Downs became lost, a long time ago. She eventually went Wungaloo (mad) and lived in a cave near Red Butte. The old people say her spirit is still there and no-one goes near that cave. Her name was Gudburrayia. Dad has lots of stories of Texas.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Turkey Creek, WA
LANGUAGE
Gija
BIOGRAPHY
Charlene Carrington is the daughter of well-respected artists, Churchill Cann and Sadie Carrington and grew up on Texas Downs cattle station where she was exposed to traditional ochre painting techniques from an early age. She observed and learnt from renowned Texas Downs and Turkey Creek painters, including her grandfathers’ Beerbee Mungnari and Hector Jandany, her grandmother Betty Carrington and other acclaimed artists like Queenie McKenzie, Jack Britten, Rover Thomas, and George Mung Mung.
Charlene's work frequently draws on the Dreaming stories from her Gija heritage and landscapes from her family's country, such as Texas Downs and Darrajayin (Springvale Station). She is unique among Warmun artists for using traditional natural binders like garliwan and other pigments sourced from local eucalyptus leaves to bind ochres to canvas and board. This technique, passed down from artists such as Rover Thomas, Jack Britten, and Hector Jandany, predates the use of modern acrylic binders. While Charlene also uses acrylic binders, she continues to honor this traditional method.
REFERENCES
Short St Gallery. "Charlene Carrington Biography."
Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery
PROVENANCE
Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery Cat No. 14183
Cooee Art Gallery, NSW
EXHIBITED
Passing On Tradition - New and Old Kimberley, June 2010, Cooee Art Gallery
ARTWORK STORY
Ngarrgarroon is the Kitja name for Texas Downs. This is my family's country. The part I have painted is to the north and centre of the Station. I have shown Red Butte Country, Joel Springs, Wagon Creek and the tracks leading to the old Homestead. Painted in dry time, but with the small tributaries of the big Ord River still with some water in them, this is a very beautiful part of Texas. To the south of the Red Butte is Buffalo Hole, where my aunty was born in the bush (International Artist Nancy Nodea and full sister to Charlene's father, Churchill Cann). In that part, Dad tells me that an old woman from Mabel Downs became lost, a long time ago. She eventually went Wungaloo (mad) and lived in a cave near Red Butte. The old people say her spirit is still there and no-one goes near that cave. Her name was Gudburrayia. Dad has lots of stories of Texas.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Turkey Creek, WA
LANGUAGE
Gija
BIOGRAPHY
Charlene Carrington is the daughter of well-respected artists, Churchill Cann and Sadie Carrington and grew up on Texas Downs cattle station where she was exposed to traditional ochre painting techniques from an early age. She observed and learnt from renowned Texas Downs and Turkey Creek painters, including her grandfathers’ Beerbee Mungnari and Hector Jandany, her grandmother Betty Carrington and other acclaimed artists like Queenie McKenzie, Jack Britten, Rover Thomas, and George Mung Mung.
Charlene's work frequently draws on the Dreaming stories from her Gija heritage and landscapes from her family's country, such as Texas Downs and Darrajayin (Springvale Station). She is unique among Warmun artists for using traditional natural binders like garliwan and other pigments sourced from local eucalyptus leaves to bind ochres to canvas and board. This technique, passed down from artists such as Rover Thomas, Jack Britten, and Hector Jandany, predates the use of modern acrylic binders. While Charlene also uses acrylic binders, she continues to honor this traditional method.
REFERENCES
Short St Gallery. "Charlene Carrington Biography."
Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery
