Dora Mungkirna
Born: c.1931
Location: Kurra near Mongrel Downs
Skin: Napaltjarri
Language: Walmatjarri and Warlpiri
Dora's mother's country is Tjintu and her father's
country is Walangarra. Her father brought the family in from the Tanami
Desert to Gordon Downs where he worked carting wood. Dora met her
husband and recalls the move to Laws Creek where she would milk the
nanny goats. They had only one child, Margaret, and as a family unit
they travelled around accompanied by camels and donkeys. Ceremonial
business required them to travel to stations such as Sturt Creek,
Gordon Downs and Billiluna. The family moved to the mission at Lajamanu
for a short period where Dora worked in the kitchen before heading
to Balgo. Here she became involved with the church and started painting
with the art coordinator Andrew Hughes. Dora's paintings oscillate
with colour and energy depicting the important bush foods and dreaming
stories of her country. A senior law woman, Dora still hunts and collects
bush foods regularly. A highlight in her career was executing a major
sand painting in Perth recreating a Tjukurrpa story out of yellow,
white and red sand and feathers.
Fred Tjakamarra
Born: 1 July 1926
Location: Tjapilyatjapilya and Yiiyapanta area
Skin: Tjakamarra
Language: Kukatja
Fred was born near Lappi Lappi in Western Australia,
near the border with the Northern Territory. His first experience
of white men was when he saw them droving cattle using camels, travelling
through to Alice Springs. When he was young, he and his companions
were taken by force to an Aboriginal settlement in Alice Springs.
He was able to escape with two companions when the truck on which
they were travelling stopped for water. Fred spent some time at the
old Balgo Mission as a young man before working as a stockman and
station cook at the cattle stations of the east Kimberley. An accident
left Fred with a weak hip and he now walks with the aid of a stick.
He took up painting in 1990 and has produced a large number of paintings,
many of them Water Dreaming images. He is a senior man with traditional
custodian and ceremonial responsibilities.
Gracie Green
Born: 1 July 1949
Location: Billiluna Station
Skin: Nangala
Language: Walmatjarri
Gracie was born on the original Billiluna Station,
where her mother (Mary
Tjaatju, who later also became an artist at Balgo)
and father worked. When she was a girl, her parents moved to the second
of three mission sites, which was about 20 km west of present day
Balgo. She lived in the girl's dormitory in the old Mission during
the 1950s and 1960s, before marrying and having four children, two
of whom also paint. Gracie was one of the early Balgo painters, though
she has also lived for extended periods at Christmas Creek (Wangkajungka),
near Fitzroy Crossing. She mostly paints stories from the women's
skin groups, the Wati Kutjarra (two men) Dreaming and Ngamarlu Rockhole
site, which is close to Balgo.
John Lee
Born: 18 April 1956
Location: Wirrumanu, Old Mission
Skin: Tjakamarra
Language: Kukatja, Ngardi
John only began painting in 1999 - before this he
was involved in ceremonial painting and produced only a few paintings
in 1993 and 1995. He is the son of Donkeyman Lee who was a senior
law man and leading Balgo painter. He believes that while his father
was still alive it was not necessary for him to paint but since Donkeyman's
death he has accepted his role to pass on the family heritage. John's
paintings have a distinctive style, with a mainly black background
giving them a striking appearance. John emphasizes the need to sit
and listen and learn from nature and his country. He is an articulate
spokesperson for his community and sees himself as building bridges
between his traditional culture and western beliefs.
Brandy Tjungurrayi (Tjungarrayi)
Born: around 1930
Location: Nyilla, Canning Stock Route
Skin: Tjungarrayi
Language: Kukatja, Ngardi
Brandy Tjungurrayi was born in the bush some time
around 1930. As a senior and knowledgeable lawman, he paints stories
- mainly Tingari Cycle stories and Emu Dreaming stories - connected
to his home country around Nyilla (Jupiter Well). His paintings are
elegant, linear compositions comprised of fine dotting run together
to create lines, often broadly symmetrical and sometimes converging
on a central point in the canvas.
He started painting in 1985 at Balgo but also spends time painting
at the community of Kiwirkurra, where many of his relatives live.
He is currently working at Balgo. His work at any one time tends to
have a style reflecting the community in which he is living. He had
his first solo exhibition in 2000 and he participated in the Kiwirkurra
Men's Painting exhibited at the Papunya Tula retrospective at the
Art Gallery of NSW in 2000.
Biographies
of Balgo Hills Artists
