About this artwork
** Edition 8/30 and 30/30 are available **
The Wandjina is the creator spirit that belongs to us: the Wororra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbul people. He is the one that created everything; our culture, law and songs and even the dreaming of each child before they are born.
Dumbi is an owl which resides in Ngarinyin country. A boy and a girl teased Dumbi and plucked out his feathers. Dumbi flew to the Wandjina Wodjin who said he would create a large flood to punish the tribe from where the boy and girl came. At a place called Wanalirri, the Wandjina gathered a large flock of brolgas which stomped on a huge black soil plain to create quicksand. The flood came and drowned many people; those who tried to escape were lost in the quicksand. The boy and girl were safe because they were on high ground, they were taken there by a kangaroo, and they traveled on the kangaroo’s tail. A Tata lizard called Ganada warned the Wandjina that the boy and the girl had escaped. The rains and lightning started to chase the boy and girl and they ran to a hollowed out boab tree. Once they were in the tree, the Wandjina closed it up and they were lost for ever. In another version of the story the boy and girl survive the flood and mate to produce a new tribe.
About Gabriella Barunga
Gabriella Dolby Barunga (born 1969) has been painting for more than 20 years, and is well known for her Ungud (totem) paintings, where snake-like symbols are repeated in rhythmic swirls. She is a wonderful exponent of the decorative brush stroke in-fill technique, which is synonymous with the Mowanjum style. Her work has featured regularly in the Kimberley Art Prize. Born in Derby, Gabriella first heard about traditional law and ancestral stories through her mother and uncles. While her parents were in the leprosarium, she was cared for by Jack and Biddy Dale. They took her on bush trips, where she learned to fish, as well as hunt kangaroos, snakes and turtles. She has made various trips to her homelands near Pantijan, and to the caves where the Wandjinas were first painted. These experiences have become an inspiration for her work. - courtesy Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre
