![Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by SONIA KURARRA of Mangkaja Artists. The title is Martuwarra. [271/15] (Charcoal on 250gsm Velin Arches)](https://media.redotgallery.com/stockroom/gallery/m/martuwarra-3979.jpg)
SONIA KURARRA
Martuwarra271/15
Charcoal on 250gsm Velin Arches
Martuwarra | 271/15
Charcoal on 250gsm Velin Arches
38 x 55.5cm | 15 x 21.9in
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Sonia Kurarra was born by a billabong at Noonkanbah community. Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah.
A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art-making with the children. Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, wakiri (pandanus trees) or the water itself.
Martuwarra is Sonia’s river country. This painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where Sonia lives. All kinds of fish live in the water, where you can catch big mobs of fish. Sonia especially likes parlka. You can catch catfish and brim in the river too. Nganku (shark), wirritunany (swordfish) and stingray also live in the waters. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone.
This painting is also about parlka swimming on the surface of the water. You can see the wakiri and rocks all around. The rock holes hold all the parlka that live in the river. Kalpurtu (serpent-type creator being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the palma (creeks) and wakiri that grow in the river.
A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art-making with the children. Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be... Read More