‘Lake Baker’ evokes the surface of the salt lake

A captivating work by Pitjantjatjara law man and artist Timo Hogan — Lake Baker 2021 (illustrated) — unfolds the ancient religion within the Pukunkura (Lake Baker) landscape, for which he is cultural caretaker, and the narratives of the beings that shaped it. ARTWORK STORIES: Delve into QAGOMA’s Collection highlights for a rich exploration of the…

Mavis Ngallametta’s work has personal significance

Wutan #2 2014 (illustrated) depicts a specific tract of land and its waterways in the Cape York region, Far North Queensland, leading to a site of significance to Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) — a sister work to Ngak-pungarichan (Clearwater) 2013 (illustrated). This large portrait-format landscape uses its height to chart a tract of land and water,…

Kangaroo Story

Kumantje Jagamara OAM (1946-2020) was one of the foremost champions of the Western Desert painting movement and a deeply respected Warlpiri/Luritja Elder and senior cultural leader of the broader Papunya community. He was a dynamic innovator of Papunya’s second wave of painters known for creating evocative new forms to portray his ancestral inheritance. DELVE DEEPER:…

Intimately sized plaques allude to public memorials

Indigenous Australian objects and remains were removed from their resting places and collected by museums throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In To know and possess 2021 (illustrated), which adopts the commemorative trope of the bronze plaque, Kamilaroi artist Warraba Weatherall highlights this history, and the debate that continues around repatriation, for contemporary audiences. ARTWORK…