Artist: Molly Karadada | Title: Wandjina | Year: 1987 | Medium: ochre on bark | Dimensions: 53 x 22 cm
PROVENANCE
Painted at Kalumburu, WA
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art NSW
Private Collection, Berlin Germany
ARTWORK STORY
It is said that the Wandjina is the embodiment of the rain spirit and creation ancestor of the Wonnambal, Ngarinyin and Worrora peoples of the North West Kimberley. Wandjina are prolific along the walls of caves in the plateau areas of the North Kimberley coast and are unique to this region. They are always pictured using red ochre from a frontal aspect, with no mouth, large black eyes, and a slit or beak-like nose and are usually depicted in a veil of dots which represent the blood and water mix of man and animal. According to Dreamtime, the Wandjina emerge from the clouds to bring the monsoon rain each season. As such, it is a powerful fertility figure that keeps the spirits of unborn babies in special rockpools and waterholes.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Kalumburru
LANGUAGE
Tjarintji/Woonambal
PROVENANCE
Painted at Kalumburu, WA
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art NSW
Private Collection, Berlin Germany
ARTWORK STORY
It is said that the Wandjina is the embodiment of the rain spirit and creation ancestor of the Wonnambal, Ngarinyin and Worrora peoples of the North West Kimberley. Wandjina are prolific along the walls of caves in the plateau areas of the North Kimberley coast and are unique to this region. They are always pictured using red ochre from a frontal aspect, with no mouth, large black eyes, and a slit or beak-like nose and are usually depicted in a veil of dots which represent the blood and water mix of man and animal. According to Dreamtime, the Wandjina emerge from the clouds to bring the monsoon rain each season. As such, it is a powerful fertility figure that keeps the spirits of unborn babies in special rockpools and waterholes.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Kalumburru
LANGUAGE
Tjarintji/Woonambal