Thelma Dixon

Policeman and Tracker

Synthetic polymer paint on paper

77 x 55cm

Police man two Kanjabul and Tracker Snowy. He used to go with them and show them the tracks and land.

Elton Wirri

Petermann Ranges

Watercolour on paper

74 x 94cm

Elton is the son of Doris Abbott and Kevin Wirri. Elton grew up in Alice Springs and as a young boy kept his father company while watching him paint. At the age of eight, Elton began painting, soon progressing to watercolours on boards with the instruction of his father. He likes to paint both his father’s country, the
Petermann Ranges and his mother’s country around Yapalpe (Glen Helen) and Palm Valley.

Hubert Pareroultja

West MacDonnell Ranges

Watercolour on paper

43 x 74cm

Hubert was born in Hermannsburg is 1952 at the height of the watercolour movement and has been painting watercolours since he was a young boy. He was inspired by his father, Reuben Pareroultja, and uncles, Otto and Edwin. He predominantly uses pastel pinks and purples to capture the distant mountain ranges and the vast panoramic expanse of his country. His incredible attention to detail gives his work a mesmerising photographic quality. He paints many of the same locations that Albert depicted, in particular Mt Hermannsburg, Mt Sonder and many locations in the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Betty Bundamara

Wandjina

Natural pigments on paper

76 x 56cm

The Wandjina are ancestral spirits who created the country, people and animals in the North West Kimberley before turning themselves into rock paintings. They are sometimes called ‘Lightning Man’ or ‘Rain Maker’ and every year they replenish water holes, creeks and rivers throughout the wet season.
The predominant white colouring and shape of the Wandjina’s body represent water and clouds which are sometimes offset by the use of a red pigment, representing blood that shows us that the Wandjina are partly alive.

Kalarriya Namarnyilk

Bek Djang

Natural pigments on paper

76 x 51cm

This painting depicts Bek Djang, a Dreaming site near Manmoyi outstation. The area was Kallariyas’ mothers’ country and Kallariya is now the djungai for this place. There is a stone there, filled with small holes and surrounded by Milkwood trees. People can go there but they do not approach the stone. It is said
that if you touch it, many Bek (death-adders) live inside and they will be released to slither out of the holes in the stone and kill the person with their venom. Here two djungai (ceremony bosses) are shown near the rock with its many snake heads protruding.

Lenie Namatjira

East of Papunya

Watercolour on paper

31 x 46cm

Lenie was born in 1951 at Glen Helen and is Albert Namatjira’s granddaughter, daughter to his second son, Oscar. Many of Lenie’s paintings are inspired by childhood memories of her country. Her watercolours focus on the landscapes west of Hermannsburg, particularly of country around Kulpitjarra. Her paintings capture a sense of windswept country. She is a natural colourist, using joyful, vibrant colours alongside darker hues to create shadows and crevices in her blue, mauve and pink mountain ranges. She paints with an open, airy style characterised by loose brushstrokes and broad sweeps of colour that create a ‘naivety’ and softness in her work.

Danie Mellor

A Transcendent Vision (of life, death and resurrection)

Mixed media on paper

231 x 100cm

This image is a storyboard, and references tracing boards used in ceremony and initiation. The coffin shaped image, a repository of sacred iconography, is a reminder that death brings with it an end, and also a new beginning - it is a meeting ground between the material and invisible worlds.

Violet Hammer

Canoe and Fishing implements

Screenprint on paper

46 x 34cm

Canoe and fishing implements.

In the olden days the yanyuwa People used to go hunting with the canoe.

They used to have their own Bush weapon ie, Spear,Woomera,for Spearing Fishes and Stingrays and the harpoon to kill Turtles and Dugong.

The Canoe is made out of white Gum Tree and the Paddles out of wakuwaku (Pine Tree) The Ratha (Harpoon) is made from the messemate Tree and the rope is made out of kurrajong Bark.

Gabriel Maralngurra

Wurdyaw (children) Kudjekbinj Dreaming Story

Natural pigments, synthetic polymer paint on Arches paper

76 x 102cm

This image depicts sacred sites on Gabriels clan estate in Kedjekbinj. Also depicted is Yingana, the Creation spirit who came from the sea with her dilly bags full of children. She populated the lands with her spirit babies, gave them traditional Law and language. These are the first peoples of Arnhem Land and the
ancestors of the people who live there today.

Dennis Nona

Saulal

Etching on paper

80 x 120cm

Telstra Work on Paper Winner

Saulal explores the seasonal phenomenon of turtle mating which starts on the mainland and travels north through the Torres Strait Islands. At the start of the turtle mating season, the Biru Biru (birds) migrate north from the mainland, across the Torres Strait to Papua New Guinea. At the end of the turtle mating season they migrate south back to the mainland.