Trial Bay (4299V), 2013, Wukun Wanambi
(second on right)
Wood, ochre and earth pigments, 183cm
Provenance: Buku-Larrngay Mulka, Yirrkala.
Exhibited: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 2013-14.
The son of renowned clan leader and painter, Mithili Wanambi, Wukun Wanambi paints the sacred designs kept in trust for him by the elders of his community. His very first painting in 1997 was the NATSIAA awarding winning bark depiction of Bamurrunu, a sacred, white-domed rock in the middle of Trial Bay. It was the first time the motif had been painted since his father's death. Wanamabi has continued to paint, receiving numerous accolades for his barks and poles (1).
From the authenticity certificate: Trial Bay is located between Caldeon Bay to the north and above the larger Blue Mud Bay on the western side of the Gulf of Carpenteria. Deep inside Trial Bay the Marrakulu clan claim ownership to land and sea through the actions and events of Ancestor Beings as they travelled into this country imbuing both land and sea. The mark of ownership is suing, danced and painted in Marrakulu ritual through the stringy bark woodlands and stony country, through the freshwaters running into the Gurka’wuy River into Trial Bay. Mixing with the saltwater through sacred mangroves and froth and bubble and out deeper into the Bay with the outgoing tide, past boulders and rocky islets the power and knowledge associated with Marrakulu Rom (law) washes back to shore. This country is associated with the Wawalak Sisters, sacred goannas. This painting refers to Bamurrunju, a scared and solitary rock in Trial Bay. It is a white dome in the Bay - a round lump of granite its top coloured by roosting birds, in the painting by the molmulpa or white sea foam associated with turbulent and agitating waters created by particular tide and wind.
Other works by this artist: