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exhibition
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Click to view a selection of artworks chosen by exhibition curator Hetti Perkins

 
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Highlights

Yawkyawk are female water spirits which take the form of mermaid like young women. Owen Yalandja creates elegant sculptures of Yawkyawk that live on his country at Mirrayar billabong. Exploiting the shape and movement of the timber to emphasise the seductive nature of yawkyawk, Yalandja paints his works with intricate body decoration to represent their scales. He is one of the few artists who carve yawkyawk on a regular basis although they are a recurring theme in Kuninjku bark painting.


Owen Yalandja
Yawkyawk 1999
natural pigments on wood
261.5 x 12.2 x 8.5 cm
Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art, 2000
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Owen Yalandja
Yawkyawk 1999
natural pigments on wood
227.5 x 9.8 x 8.4 cm
Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art, 2000
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

 

 

 
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