BONNIE CONNELLY - MINYMA KUTJARA

BONNIE CONNELY
MINYMA KUTJARA,  2024
40.6 x 76.2 cm
acrylic on canvas
 
REGION
Tjukurla, WA
 
PROVENANCE
Tjarlirli Art, WA Cat No. 24-402
Art Leven, NSW
 
STORY
Bonnie uses a dry brush to apply colour in travelling formaons across the canvas, evoking the textured desert landscape where she has spent her life. Bonnie was born near Blackstone in Western Australia and has spent me travelling widely across the remote Ngaanyatjarra lands. Her painngs draw heavily on her strong cultural history, geographic knowledge, and extensive network of familial relaons, which snake throughout the desert.
 
This story is called Kungka Kutjara, or Two Sisters. It tells the story of two sisters travelling through the desert. As they travelled, their actions created landmarks such as rock holes and mountain ranges, forging a record of their travels across the land. Bonnie depicts these women at a place close to Kaltukatjara, where they travelled through a gap in the mountains. She has passed this story onto her daughter Marlene Connelly, who is also a prolific painter. Bonnie loves to paint this story, remembering the travels of the two ladies.