TOWN CAMP YARNS: Tangentyere 2016
Past exhibition
Mary Dixon Nungarrayi
Kungka Tjuta, Minyma Tjuta
acrylic on linen
77 x 149 cm
833344
This painting depicts women dancing, and specifically the skirts they are wearing, made from their woven hair. The patterning that feature in this painting represents the swirling hair-string skirts work...
This painting depicts women dancing, and specifically the skirts they are wearing, made from their woven hair. The patterning that feature in this painting represents the swirling hair-string skirts work by the Dancing Women Ancestors during ceremonies when women reaffirm their connections to each of the Women'd Tjukurrpa through dance and song. The hair0string skirts are woven by the women from their own hair or that of their family using a simple spindle make of two sticks and are shown as a complex pattern of lines. The works are neat and well ordered but free flowing, filling the canvas with the energetic forms of the women dancing in their skirts. The impact of the work mesmerises, just as the ceremonial performance works its magic. The artwork reveals both bodies moving and the inner or spiritual power, the essence of cultural identity.