Joe has painted animals found in the Stone Country of West Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Wak (Crow), Nawaran (Oenpelli Python), Karnamarr (Black Cockatoo) and Karldurrk (blue-winged...
Joe has painted animals found in the Stone Country of West Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Wak (Crow), Nawaran (Oenpelli Python), Karnamarr (Black Cockatoo) and Karldurrk (blue-winged Kookaburra).
The animals are entwined together, perhaps to remind the viewer of the tumbling vibrance of life in western Arnhem Land, and the importance of maintaining traditional custodianship of country and keep the two moieties, dura and yirritja in balance. The moieties are represented through the colours red and yellow. Red also represents flesh, while yellow represents animal fat. The colours are both found naturally occurring throughout Arnhem Land as ochre deposits. Everything in western Arnhem Land has a moiety, from people to plants, rocks, to animals, and maintaining the balance of the world is an fundamental responsibility for the bininj people who live there.