Paintings from Warmun

Warmun is one of the main centres for east Kimberley Aboriginal art. Artists from Warmun are renowned for their use of natural ochre and pigments on canvas. The artists draw on traditional Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories as well as contemporary events and life experiences. For more information about the history of Warmun and the art centres, see Warmun Art and Community.

The best known artists from the region include Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie, Patrick Mung Mung, Hector Jandany, Beerbee Mungnari and Jack Britten. Short biographies of many of the artists are given on our Warmun Artists page.

Warmun Art Centre was established in 1998 to represent Warmun artists and the paintings we offer have been selected in cooperation with the centre.

For paintings by artists from other parts of the region, see our Kimberley Paintings section.

The prices below are in Australian dollars and do not include packing, shipping and insurance - use the "Enquire" button to confirm availability of a painting and the cost of shipping. To check the equivalent price in other currencies, use the Currency Conversion link. Warmun paintings are mounted on wooden stretcher frames and must be sent in a flat package. For more details about shopping, see our Shopping and online security section.

Nellie Gordon

Title:	Kakuru
Price:	$770.00 in Australia $700.00 for Export.
PA780, 2010
Ochres on canvas
60 x 80 cm

Kakaru is the Walmajarri word for freshwater mussels. They were an important food source when people lived a traditional lifestyle and were dug from the sand in waterways near the Great Sandy Desert. They are still enjoyed today. This work shows the tracks and tunnels of the buried mussel. “You gotta feel ‘im like that you know. You can get ‘im all a time - dry time ‘e hide langa mud. Can boil ‘im in billycan... cook ‘im in bark... put ‘im la fire, cover ‘im up”.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66

Lloyd Kwila

Title:	Jumuwarnti - Many Waterholes
Price:	$1650.00 in Australia $1500.00 for Export.
PA782, 2010
Ochres on canvas
100 x 80 cm

In the desert regions of Australia water and waterholes have played an important role in the evolution of indigenous peoples lifestyle, these waterholes were created in the dreamtime Jumangkarni and are all connected by subterranean tunnels. For the Wangkatjunga and Walmajarri people of the Great Sandy Desert knowledge of these waterholes was crucial to survival while living a traditional lifestyle. As a boy Lloyd walked much of the desert with his father Billy Thomas (Karntakarnta) and knows the importance of these waterholes and understands their connections well.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66

Jimmy McKenzie

Title:	Purnululu
Price:	$1485.00 in Australia $1350.00 for Export.
PA784, 2011
Ochres on canvas
100 x 80 cm

This work depicts the beehive-shaped hills of the Bungle Bungle massif on Texas Downs Station in the East Kimberley. Jimmy was born near here and spent all of his early life growing up and working the stock camps with his mother Queenie Mc Kenzie on this country. Purnululu has become a significant tourist attraction and many thousands of visitors arrive each dry season to fly over, camp and walk the creeks and ravines of the Bungle Bungle Range.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66

Nellie Gordon

Title:	Campsite at Sturt Creek
Price:	$1540.00 in Australia $1400.00 for Export.
PA789, 2002
Natural ochre and pigments on canvas
100 x 80 cm

This work shows a campsite on Sturt Creek on Billiluna Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The artist was born at this place beneath two large River Red Gums shown in the lower left of the painting. Sturt Creek is shown running through the middle of the work and at this place there are permanent clear waterholes. Along the length of Sturt Creek the water varies as it winds its way toward the Great Sandy Desert, the water becomes salty at various stages and milky at others.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66

Ned Johns

Title:	Sugarbag Dreaming
Price:	$715.00 in Australia $650.00 for Export.
PA791, 2002
Natural ochre and pigments on canvas
60 x 80 cm

The artist's cultural totem is the Sugarbag Dreaming associated with country near Wave Hill Station in the western Northern Territory. Sugarbag is the honey and wax that is gathered from hives of native bees. Generally the hives are located in hollows in trees. When hunting people would set about looking for the bees and once they had located the hive they would cut the tree down and extract the sugarbag from the hollow. Once they had collected the sugerbag they would then place it in a billycan of water, boil it and then drink it or eat it whole without boiling it. After boiling, the wax was soft which made it pliable when used in the production of spears, axes and dress items. Traditionally the honey was crucial as a supplement to a bush tucker diet. The artist paints this story almost exclusively with a central point and radiating lines. The central point represents the hive or honey and the lines represent pathways that the native bees use to enter the hive, different colour dots are used to create patterns that give the work interesting depth.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66

Rosie Mulligan

Title:	Kakuru
Price:	$605.00 in Australia $550.00 for Export.
PA793, 2008
Natural ochre and pigments on canvas
60 x 80 cm

Kakuru is the Walmajarri word for freshwater mussels. Kakuru were an important food source when people lived a traditional lifestyle. They were dug from the sand in waterways near Lake Gregory in the Great Sandy Desert.

Delivery charge for this item:
Australia	$33
North America	$77
Europe/Other	$77
Asia/Pacific	$66