Wak Wak, Melba Gunjarrwanga
Bark painting, 112cm x 26cm
Provenance: Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River.
Kuninjku artist, Melba Gunjarrwanga is a talented printmaker, sculptor, weaver and bark painter who works at both the Bábbarra Women’s Centre and Maningrida Arts and Culture. Over the last decade, Melba has taken part in multiple group exhibition across Australia and the world and her works have been presented by Maningrida Arts and Culture and within their collective shows (1).
From the authenticity certificate: This painting depicts a sacred site at Kurrurldul, an outstation of Maningrida. The rarrk, or abstract crosshatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called Djimarr. The Djimarr rock in the stream at Kurrurldul is said to move around and call out in soft hooting tone at night. Both the stone itself and the area around it are considered sacred. The imagery resents the rock at the bottom of Kurrurldul creek, which is the final transmutation of the dreaming ancestor.