Alfonso and Jane

Alfonso Puautjimi & Jane Tipuamantumirri from the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Australia, portray aspects of Tiwi life, ranging from quirky fish, magpie geese and ceremonial life, to houses, cars, planes and portraits. These richly painted ochres on paper feature bold brush strokes and a generous application of paint.

Ngaruwanajirri (meaning helping one another in Tiwi) was established in 1994 as a cooperative to support local Tiwi artists with disability and to provide employment for people at Wurrumiyanga (formally Nguiu) on Bathurst Island . The artists work in a wonderful open and airy workspace called the ‘Keeping House’.

Ngaruwanajirri artists create highly individual works in a range of art forms including batik and painted silk scarves, lino block printing, ironwood carving, water colour and acrylics on paper and natural ochres on paper and canvas.

The natural ochres (white and yellow) are collected from two beaches on Bathurst Island and burning the yellow ochre over a fire produces a third colour, red. These colours are still used by the Tiwi in different ceremonies and cultural events on both Melville and Bathurst Island (the Tiwi Islands).

Art from Ngaruwanajirri has been exhibited in galleries throughout Australia and is held in public and private collections.

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New Etchings from Yirrkala Print Workshop

These etchings from Yirrkala Print Workshop feature prints by leading Yolngu artists which are a reflection of their culture, ingenuity, skill and artistic vision. The etchings were editioned at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in 2013.

Buku Larrnggay Mulka has a long and proud history as one of Australia’s premier Indigenous art centres and printmaking studios. The artists have established a national reputation for their work, having won many of Australia’s major Indigenous art prizes.

Buku Larrnggay Mulka is one of the few art centres in Australia to establish and maintain a dedicated print workshop, which is staffed by Indigenous printmakers. In the last fifteen years the Centre has produced a wide range of linocuts, screen prints, etchings, lithographs, and collographs. While the artists are respectful of the discipline of miny’tji (sacred design) the nature of the printmaking process has allowed the them to experiment more freely with colour, imagery, concepts and design without compromising their spiritual identity. Many of the artists who have worked in the print workshop are women who have been leaders in innovation and change.

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Mimili Maku

This collection of limited edition screen prints is the result of a print making workshop at the Mimili Maku with Basil Hall in 2012. During the workshop emerging and established artists created a stunning selection of prints based on imagery, symbols and narrative of the region made with a vibrant application of colour.

The community of Mimili is in the far north west of South Australia, at the base of the Everard Ranges, in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. It is 645km south of Alice Springs which is the nearest large town.

PRIZED: Yirrkala Artists

Artists from Buku Larrnggay Mulka in eastern Arnhem Land have featured prominently in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award over its 30-year history. Since 1994 there have been 22 winners from Buku Larrnggay Mulka, of those 12 have been selected for Prized: Yirrkala Artists.

Djambawa Marawili AM

Gulumbu Yunupingu 

Nawurapu Wunungmurra

Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr

Naminapu Maymuru-White

Nyapanyapa Yunupingu

Djirrirra Wunungmurra

Galuma Maymuru 

Gawirrin Gumana AO

Wukun Wanambi 

Baluka Maymuru

Banduk Marika

 View PDF Catalogue

Traveling with a plate – journeys to the north

By Jörg Schmeisser (dec)

Master printmaker and artist Jörg Schmeisser first visited Arnhem Land in 1976. As part of the journey he facilitated some of the first etchings to be made with Indigenous artists of the region. He again visited the Top End in 2009 as part of the Nomad Art Djalkiri project.

This body of etchings represents both his visits to the Northern Territory and subjects related to the region. The exhibition features prints of Arnhem Land, Katherine Gorge, central Australia, south east Asia and Australian plants and marine life.

Of German descent Schmeisser’s distinguished printmaking career was informed by a restless curiosity of the visual world. From the beginning, he was inspired by travel, his imagination fired by regular experiences of the unfamiliar and unknown.

Jörg Schmeisser died in 2012.

Essay by Professor Howard Morphy

Manme Mayh: Gardens of the Stone Country II

Manme Mayh: Gardens of the Stone Country II continues to explore the links between Indigenous cultural heritage, environment and aesthetic traditions of artists from the Stone Country of western Arnhem Land through food and plants (manme) and animals (mayh).

The artists selected for this project represent a small and unique group of young artists who are actively maintaining the distinctive practise associated with the traditions of rock art painting in western Arnhem Land and the knowledge it purveys. The artists are Allan Nadjamerrek, Namarnyilk (Gavin) Nadjamerrek and Samson Namundja.

The Stone Country of Western Arnhem Land also known as the plateau country adjoins Kakadu National Park. The rocky outcrops of the escarpment dominate the landscape while adjacent floodplains, permanent rivers and billabongs are abundant with life of countless species of animals and plants.

The exhibition highlights cultural associations the Kunwinjku people have with species that include the fruit bats, kangaroos, Oenpelli python, water lilies, crocodiles, turtles, fishes, yams, and other plants and animals that provide both food and tools.

View the image and story catalogue

View the Education Kit

Desert Drypoints, Wetland Woodcuts and the Magnificent Mangrove Lithograph Series

John Wolseley returns to Darwin in June as part of his continuing exploration of the Daly River and Blue Mud Bay in East Arnhem Land. Immersed in swamps, wetlands, tidal mangroves and the life forms that inhabit them, his work is a search to discover how we coexist within the landscape.

Wolseley’s paintings are a study of the inner workings of living organisms, an idea that has emerged out of the rivers and swamps of the Top End environment.  While the compositions can be thought of as figurative, they also go beyond to a combination of stylised dynamic abstraction and rhythmic energy and still further to the exploration of hidden dimensions of being.

While primarily an artist John Wolseley brings to his work a deep sense of philosophy, research, ethno-biology, botany, zoology and humanitarianism coupled with acute observation. His exhibition Desert Drypoints, Wetland Woodcuts and the Magnificent Mangrove Lithograph Series is on show at Nomad Art from 31 May – 29 June, 2013

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ABC Stateline NT

New Fabrics from Merrepen Arts

These beautiful new hand printed fabrics from Merrepen Arts on the Daly River in Northern Territory are the result of a recent fabric printing workshop with Bobby Ruben.

Merrepen artists are renowned for their stylised designs, which have traditional associations to the plants and animals of the Daly River region. The New fabrics feature work highly regarded artists Marita Sambono and Kieren Karritypul.

Contact the gallery for more information about these fabrics.

gallery@nomadart.com.au

08 89482178

Or go to the online textile store to look at other

fabrics from Merrepen Arts

New fabric from Babbarra Designs

New fabrics from Maningrida feature hand printed designs on fine quality hand woven quilting fabrics and shot cottons. The women’s designs depict their landscape, dreaming stories, bush foods and bush activities. The exhibition will feature new and exciting screen prints and lino block printing.

Proudly owned by Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, Babbarra Designs is a creator of fine indigenous textile art. They are based at Maningrida in central Arnhem Land and operate out of the Babbarra Women’s Centre. The Maningrida region of central Arnhem Land is one of immense cultural and linguistic diversity. The work of our textile artists depicts the landscape, dreaming stories, spirit beings, bush foods and bush crafts from their country surrounding Maningrida. The variation in subject matter reflects the cultural identity of women from the different language groups.

View in the Textile Store >

Flowing From the Roper

Our art comes from the Roper, that’s what connects us here, the river.  The river is the source of our creativity and energy and our art flows like the river.

The artists called this exhibition ‘Flowing from the Roper’, because they see it as a journey where the art has flown from the Roper to Melbourne, back to the Roper.

In 2012 seven Ngukurr artists were invited to develop new work in collaboration with Melbourne-based printmaker Rebecca Mayo. The artists explored the medium of screen-printing and produced exciting new work that complemented their own arts practice. The project has been made possible through the generous support of the Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC), Friends of Ngukurr, who raised over $35,000 through various fundraising events. The positive response to this project has reinvigorated and nourished the vibrant arts community in Ngukurr and will continue to foster the special relationship between Ngukurr and MLC.

Ngukurr community lies at the very South Eastern edge of Arnhem Land. The town is perched on a rise above a bend in the mighty Roper River, with heavily wooded country stretching away to the distance. The Roper River country, with its wild escarpments and dense woodlands, billabongs full of lillies, magpie geese, crocodiles and rock formations is as diverse as the people and art from the area.

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A Dogs Life II

Dion Beasley loves to draw dogs, their interactions and the world around them. Dion’s humorous observations capture the character and relationships of the animals and situations he draws. ‘A Dogs Life II’ is the latest body of prints produced by this unique Tennant Creek artist, editioned by Franck Gohier, Red Hand Studios, Darwin.

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Dion Beasley Art and Language – ABC Arts News

Hand Held Lands

Drawings and sculpture by Talitha Kennedy.

In this body of work Darwin based artist Talitha Kennedy examines the human relationship with nature in small sculptures and drawings.

Talitha Kennedy’s small hand-stitched sculptures are inspired by the idea of holding a mini-world in your hands.

‘Humans have the power to make big changes to the world. The capability of our technologies give us the power to destroy the land –deforest, make a huge hole in the ground for mining, avert rivers to dam, move mountains for roads. Geographic forms are themselves in transition, formed by moving tectonic plates in constant states of erosion as everything transforms by entropy.

The land as a body, an organism –alive and with spirit’

Talitha Kennedy 2013

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Fabrics from Injalak Arts

A selection of beautiful new screen printed fabric designs from Injalak Arts in Western Arnhem Land.

Screen printing is an important part of art centre activities creating employment for artists and a alternate way to express traditional motifs. The designs were created by Injalak artists under the direction of Tim Growcott.

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Recent Fabrics from Wadeye Women’s Centre

The Wet Season reinvigorates the landscape and brings new life across the Top End.  As you fly into the community of Wadeye at this time of year, you see vast stretches  of green – brilliant carpets of light and dark  punctuated by mirror-like giant ribbons of water stretching across the land and isolating the communities beyond them.   ‘The Wet’ brings new growth, new ideas and inspiration. Palngun Wurnangat Association Inc (which translates to ‘women working together’ in Murrinhpatha ) is proud to share with you, the designs and first-time screened fabrics of new young artists of the Wadeye region , along with some of the traditional designs that are well known and loved.

Design is sometimes literal and sometimes conceptual  – drawing reference from the hint of a shape or the idea of movement. This exhibition includes the work of several younger artists of the Wadeye region, who’s work represents the beginning of that contemporary line of thought in the artist’s mind – sometimes it’s a story, sometimes it’s just a feeling.

Good people, strong people, made this art

This exhibition features powerful images of the Arrernte homelands west of Alice Springs by artists from Yarrenyty-Arltere.  The Centre is a family resource and learning centre located in Alice Springs which aims to improve the social, health, environmental and economic well being of the community in a way that strengthens and respects culture.

Build Up: More works in paper

Build Up is an exhibition of handmade paper by Darwin artist Winsome Jobling.

Winsome Jobling makes works in paper, which are linked to the environment on both political and physical grounds. Winsome’s art is tactile and sensual, often contrasting elements of texture, translucence, fragility and strength. She creates images by pouring thin layers of coloured pulp one on top of the other; they are then pressed into beautiful contemporary watermark papers.

Jobling has an international reputation as a paper maker and recently returned from the Watermarks 2 conference in Cleveland USA, where she presented a workshop to a highly appreciative audience of paper makers.

Build Up

‘It’s the wet, your underwear is clingy; it may be all you have on. Mould is growing on the walls and your clothes. The air-conditioners are heaving and gasping on sweaty high rises.  The city is ugly. Focus is here and now, built environment, build-up and rain.’ Winsome Jobling 2013

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View ‘Sweat’ a series of 22 works in paper

New prints from Mardbalk Arts and Craft

Mardbalk Arts and Crafts Centre was established in February 2009 and represents the Warruwi and Minjiland communities in west Arnhem Land. The art centre has nine permanent and 55 casual artists and is run by the West Arnhem Shire Council – a local board consisting of traditional owners, elders, artists and various clan members.
The name Mardbalk refers to the name of the bay where the Warrawi community is located. The prints are the result of a workshop with Melbourne based printmaker Andrew Sinclair during a workshop on the Island in 2012.

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