QUEENIE NAKARRA MCKENZIE - DREAMING PLACES Ā€“ GIDJA COUNTRY

 QUEENIE NAKARRA MCKENZIE
DREAMING PLACES Ā€“ GIDJA COUNTRY,  1996
200 x 160 cm
Natural Earth Pigments on Linen
 
PROVENANCE
Waringarri Arts, Kununurra Cat No. AP0791William Mora Galleries, Melbourne Cat No. S5740Private Collection Vic 
 
STORY
This painting shows important Dreaming Places in Queenieā€™s country. The hill at the top is Wirdim (Red Butt), on Texas Downs Station. There is a big yellow sand dune on the side of the hill here. At the base of the hill is a fishing hole (shown in black). People sit and fish on the rock nearby (shown as circles). The row of hills below, are hills on the other side of the river. Wirdim is linked to Doolngayim (Argument Gap) in the Northern Territory. Doolngayim is shown at the bottom of the painting as the hill with vertical cracks in striking colours. The wavy line below is the Victoria Highway, which runs through the gap today.Wirdim and Doolngayim are connected by the story of Ganggamerl, an old spirit woman who set off from Wirdim in the Dreamtime and kidnapped a boy. He called out to his brothers at Newry Station, but Ganggamerl took him back to Wirdim. He soon escaped back to his own country.At the left centre is Nanny Goat Hill, near Texas Downs homestead. Below Nanny Goat Hill, on the left, is Yarlga, an Echidna Dreaming place. The artist was born in Yarlga country and Echidna was one of her Dreamings. The area is a source of a white stone also called Yarlga, which was traditionally used to make spearheads. The stone is sharp like the quills of the Dreamtime Echidna. To the right of Yarlga are hills in Darrawoonging country, where two boys who stole ā€�ant bedā€™ drowned in a waterhole.
 
EXHIBITED
Queenie McKenzie, William Mora Galleries, 1997