Title
Wagilak sisters story - Wititj (olive python)
1961
Artist
-
Details
- Other Titles
- Carpet snake
Olive Python
Wititj, Olive Python
Carpet Snake (Wagilag Sisters Story) - Place where the work was made
-
Milingimbi
→
Central Arnhem Land
→
Northern Territory
→
Australia
- Date
- 1961
- Media category
- Bark painting
- Materials used
- natural pigments on bark
- Dimensions
- 81.3 x 40.7 cm
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Dr Stuart Scougall 1961
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- IA16.1961
- Copyright
- © Dawidi Estate. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd
- Artist information
-
Dawidi Birritjama
Works in the collection
- Share
-
-
About
In 'Wägilak sisters story – Wititj (olive python)' 1961 Dawidi capitalises on the potential of the body of Wititj to create a graphic image based on line, colour and form. The dramatic use of black renders the snake subterranean, lurking within the waters of Mirarrmina and protectively guarding its young. Its coiled form is vibrantly painted with straight lines of miny’tji (clan designs), creating a mesmerising optical effect and reflecting the power imbued within this being.
-
Places
Where the work was made
Milingimbi
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Purchases and Acquisitions for 1961, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Apr 1962–25 May 1962
Gamarada, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Nov 1996–16 Feb 1997
Bulada, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 23 Aug 1997–14 Dec 1997
Art from Milingimbi: taking memories back, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 Nov 2016–29 Jan 2017
Art from Arnhem Land, Qantas House, Australia
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 2 publications
-
Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Steven Miller, Tony Tuckson, James Scougall, Mollie Gowing, Harry Messel, Craig Brush, Ronald Fine, Alison Fine, Gordon Davies, Rosalind Davies, Christopher Hodges, Helen Eager, Rosemary Gow, Sandra Phillips, Daphne Wallace and Ken Watson, Gamarada, Sydney, 1996, 42 (colour illus.).
-
Cara Pinchbeck, Art from Milingimbi, ‘Dawidi’, pg. 64-71, Sydney, 2016, 71 (colour illus.), 140.
-
