![Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by KUNMANARA PATJU PRESLEY of Spinifex Artists. The title is Wanguntiri. [24-194] (Acrylic on Linen)](https://media.redotgallery.com/stockroom/gallery/w/artwork/p/wanguntiri-6217-LARGE-2.jpg)
KUNMANARA PATJU PRESLEY (dec)
Wanguntiri24-194 (2024)
Acrylic on Linen
Wanguntiri | 24-194
Acrylic on Linen
200 x 137cm | 78.74 x 53.94in
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Patju Presley paints with the colourful confidence of someone who knows their spiritual place in the landscape. Here he depicts the site of Wanguntiri, an important site that holds the Wati Kutjara Tjukurpa (Two Men Creation Line). It is a powerful narrative that follows two Wanampi (water serpent men) a father and his troubled son, who traverse the Spinifex Lands on Men’s Business.
Patju says “This place is where Pukara (the son) gets hurt by punu rungani (pieces of wood that are being thrown) he is in pain but alive and he makes it back to his father (Multja), who holds him and weeps. Oh my son got hurt again”. This is Patju’s grandfather’s place and also Mr Pennington’s.
These characters that Patju depicts within a living, breathing landscape are the creation beings who shaped the immediate environment as they moved through it, leaving a moral narrative etched into the physical domain as testament to their power and presence. it is this physical, spiritual and religious existence that cannot be separated for Patju and is what gives his work the transcendent quality we experience from it.
Read LessPatju says “This place is where Pukara (the son) gets hurt by punu rungani (pieces of wood that are... Read More