Artists statement

This artwork is exemplar of Garawan Wanambi’s recognisable use of concentric and spiralling diamond shapes filled in with cross-hatching. Wanambi’s work is especially distinctive for his attention to colour. He mixes ochres to create pastel colours, like lemon and peach, thereby deviating from the more recognisable colour schemes of North East Arnhem Land palettes comprising black, white, red and yellow. Wanambi’s preference for paler, mixed colours combined with the white galpan clay create very subtly detailed surfaces in which designs appear to jump in and out of focus, demanding close and sustained attention. The designs on this bark represent a place in the river mouth near Raymangirr where freshwater springs bubble up beneath the saltwater.

Garawan Wanambi is a Marrakulu clansman. His father, Munuparriwuy Wanambi, worked on the famous Yirrkala Church Panels that brought together the different Yolngu clan designs and stories by eight artists of the Dhuwa moiety, and eight artists from the Yirritja moiety. After his father's death in 1973, Garawan was brought up by a Marrangu leader, Yanggariny Wunungmurra, and adopted to the Marrangu clan. Through this connection, Garawan paints Marrangu designs, the counterpart of Marrakulu from the other side of Arnhem Bay.