(Green Bird) Ngatjiri

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

83 x 120 cm

$1,500

Provenance: Warnayaka Art Centre, Lajamanu, NT, Cat No. FW6117 Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: Budgerigars are small, bright green birds native to central Australia which are common in the Tanami desert, especially after summer rains. Yapa people hunt for nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, which are both considered delicacies. They also hunt for adult birds which they kill with killing sticks or 'Karli' (boomerangs) to hit the bird in flight. The Budgerigar travelled to many sites in Warlpiri country. Each time the flock of ancestral Budgerigar landed, they performed ceremonies, singing and dancing as they flew and roosted in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in this painting as concentric circles, while cross-like shapes depict the footprints of the bird on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks that can be found in the artist's country.

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b. early 1930s / c.1931

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

83 x 120 cm

$1,500

Provenance: Warnayaka Art Centre, Lajamanu, NT, Cat No. FW6117 Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: Budgerigars are small, bright green birds native to central Australia which are common in the Tanami desert, especially after summer rains. Yapa people hunt for nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, which are both considered delicacies. They also hunt for adult birds which they kill with killing sticks or 'Karli' (boomerangs) to hit the bird in flight. The Budgerigar travelled to many sites in Warlpiri country. Each time the flock of ancestral Budgerigar landed, they performed ceremonies, singing and dancing as they flew and roosted in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in this painting as concentric circles, while cross-like shapes depict the footprints of the bird on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks that can be found in the artist's country.