Title
Yawkyawk
2001
Artist
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Details
- Other Title
- Yawk Yawk
- Place where the work was made
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Maningrida
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Central Arnhem Land
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Northern Territory
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Australia
- Date
- 2001
- Media category
- Sculpture
- Materials used
- natural pigments on wood
- Dimensions
- 285.0 cm height
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 2002
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 96.2002
- Copyright
- © Paddy Japaljarri Stewart/Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Owen Yalandja
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Owen Yalandja's 'Yawkyawk' figure is a particularly beautiful example of this genre from central Arnhem Land. The slight curvature of the wood accentuates the elongated body of the figure while the fine detail of the painted surface is intended to represent the scales of the 'mermaid's' tail.
For many years Owen Yalandja's father Crusoe Kuningbal was the exclusive carver of mimih figures. They derive from much earlier sculptures made from paperbark and bush string. Like his father's Mimi figures, Yalandja's 'Yawkyawk' figure is an adaptation or innovation of a traditional cultural theme and Yalandja has elaborated the tradition once again by greatly increasing the size of the figure.
In Kunwinjku belief the creator of the Liverpool River region in Yingarna, the Rainbow Serpent. Yingarna's first born was a son, Ngalyod, also a Rainbow Serpent. Yingarna's second born was a daughter, Ngalkunburruyaymi (also know as Yawkyawk), a freshwater spirit resembling a mermaid in the western tradition although significant distinctions exist. Yawkyawks emerge from the water from time to time and sun themselves on rocks drying their long hair. Yawkyawks can travel across land causing people to be wary in the vicinity of their sites. They are also strongly associated with fertility.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2002
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Places
Where the work was made
Maningrida
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Exhibition history
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Crossing country: the alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 Sep 2004–12 Dec 2004
Sentient lands, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Jun 2016–08 Oct 2017
Sentient lands, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 Jan 2017–08 Oct 2017
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Bibliography
Referenced in 2 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 2002, 'Year in review', pg. 8-25, Sydney, 2002, 9.
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Hetti Perkins, Crossing country: the alchemy of western Arnhem Land art, Sydney, 2004, 202 (colour illus.), 231.
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