File snakes and lotus bulbs, 1975

natural earth pigments on bark

62 x 91cm

$4,000

Provenance: Bula Bula Arts, Ramingining, NT, Cat No. 37/0011 Aboriginal Arts Australia, Sydney c.1975 The Anne and Adrian Newstead Collection, Sydney
Artwork story: This very early painting, created in 1975 by Dorothy Djukulul, is believed to be the first bark actually attributed to a particular woman in Arnhem Land. It depicts lotus bulbs and leaves, serpents and bush tucker. The story provided by the artist which accompanies this work relates the Dreamtime story of a woman and her brother lived on a plain near Arnhem Bay. The woman used to wade in the nearby lagoon collecting water lily stems and the succulent roots which grow beneath the bulbs. However she was badly stung by leaches and decided to change into a dugong. She found a freshwater stream and swam down it into the deep sea. Her brother was lonely after her departure and he decided to change into the moon. The plain which they had vacated became known as the plain of the moon (Noalindi). The lotus symbolises the evening star. The stalk represents the long string on which the star (represented by the flower) is let out each evening by a spirit woman living in the lagoon. In this lagoon dwell many snakes and there is also much foliage through which snakes and tortoises swim.

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b. 1942

natural earth pigments on bark

62 x 91cm

$4,000

Provenance: Bula Bula Arts, Ramingining, NT, Cat No. 37/0011 Aboriginal Arts Australia, Sydney c.1975 The Anne and Adrian Newstead Collection, Sydney
Artwork story: This very early painting, created in 1975 by Dorothy Djukulul, is believed to be the first bark actually attributed to a particular woman in Arnhem Land. It depicts lotus bulbs and leaves, serpents and bush tucker. The story provided by the artist which accompanies this work relates the Dreamtime story of a woman and her brother lived on a plain near Arnhem Bay. The woman used to wade in the nearby lagoon collecting water lily stems and the succulent roots which grow beneath the bulbs. However she was badly stung by leaches and decided to change into a dugong. She found a freshwater stream and swam down it into the deep sea. Her brother was lonely after her departure and he decided to change into the moon. The plain which they had vacated became known as the plain of the moon (Noalindi). The lotus symbolises the evening star. The stalk represents the long string on which the star (represented by the flower) is let out each evening by a spirit woman living in the lagoon. In this lagoon dwell many snakes and there is also much foliage through which snakes and tortoises swim.