A senior Miriwoong artist and cultural custodian, Peggy Griffiths – Madij maintains both the ephemeral and the unchanging connections of Country. Through her arts practice she responds to her environment...
A senior Miriwoong artist and cultural custodian, Peggy Griffiths – Madij maintains both the ephemeral and the unchanging connections of Country. Through her arts practice she responds to her environment and her place within it; its subtle transitions and spiritual relationship. Her elegant yet powerful imagery documents the custodianship handed to her by her mother and grandfather. The artist transports the viewer on a journey across her Country connected to the rhythm of seasons and the life giving source of food, water and cultural knowledge. In this image of Country – Jemarim, the fruit of the Jilinybeng (bush cucumber) vine swathes the land amongst fine spinifex grasses, during the wet season. An important source of bush tucker for its vitamin C, Jiylinbeng also represents for the artist, the value and richness of cultural knowledge and practice. For Peggy Griffiths-Madij “Country is everything. It has all the food, medicine, spirit and happiness.” Amongst ant hills and rocky ridges, freshwater springs bubble up from the ground providing cool water year round sustaining her people and her culture. “The old people used to paint their Country on caves, now I’m doing it on paper. I carry on culture and pass it on ... I paint my Ngarang (Dreaming).”