Artist: Biddy Jurrah/Long Yulngarri
Title: Bush Potato Dreaming
Cat No: 91-17
Size: 85 x 50 cm
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
This is an amazing painting by Biddy Jurrah/Long Yulngarri from Lajamanu, NT.
The artwork is stretched and ready to hang.
A Certificate of Authentication is provided with the art work.
Story:
This dreaming tells about bush yams or potatoes. The trees are green all year round. When the flowers are on the tree the women know that the potatoes are ready to dig for. The women look for long, thin cracks along the ground, made from the vines of the potato plant. The women dig where the cracks are. The potatoes are deep in the ground, sometimes more than one meter deep. The women gather them in wooden dishes, called parraja in Warlpiri. Bush potatoes are cooked on the coals, and have a sweet taste.
Biography:
Born: c.1931
Birth Place: South of Willowra
Skin Name: Nungarrayi
Language: Warlpiri
Nungarrayi is a traditional woman bringing years of bush living and travel by foot and later in life vehicle to her painting. Her early life was with other Warlpiri on Mt Doreen cattle station when her family wasn't travelling around their lands. She has worked for many years teaching Warlpiri language and culture to children in the school's bilingual education program. Her initial medium was ochre when painting onto the body for ceremonies, and she still practices this, as well as painting with acrylic onto canvas and linen. Nungarrayi delights in the variations of colours now available to her. Her sister Lily Nungarrayi Jurrah/Hargraves is also a committed artist and they often paint at this art centre together. Nungarrayi began painting in 1986 in Lajamanu after a TAFE course introduced the community to Acrylic and Canvas. Nungarrayi's art has been widely exhibited in Australia and is held in major national collections.
Themes Mediums
Mala (small borrowing hare wallaby) Dreaming Acrylic on Canvas
Ngatijirri or Budgerigar Dreaming Acrylic on Linen
Women - Karnta Dreaming Ochre on Body
Yumurnunju - Bush Yam or Bush PotatoDreaming Ochre on Wood
Ochre Pigments with PVA Fixative on Canvas
Acrylic on Wood
Group Exhibitions
2015 August Form Gallery
2015 June Tunbridge Gallery
2014 July Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantajaku Tjuta
2012 January "Touch the Ground" Brits Art Germany
2012 January Brave Festival Wroclaw Poland
2012 January Galerie Yapa Paris France
2010 January "Milpirri" Lajamanu
2009 January Framed Gallery, Darwin
2008 January Holiday Inn, Darwin
Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation - Biddy Yulngarri Jurrah/Long
Group Exhibitions
2001 January Tandanya, Adelaide
1989 January Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
Collections
AAMU - MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL ART, HOLLAND
ARTBANK