FABRIC: 100% Cotton

SIZE: 62.5CM X 42.5CM

ARTIST: Damien and Yilpi Marks

STORY: This is a very detailed painting which describes a dry time of year in Damien’s homeland, Mount Liebig. The painting illustrates aspects of landscape and culture around that area that was told to Damien by his great-grandmother and great- grandfather. There are women sitting with their children collecting bush potatoes (the mass of red shapes at the bottom of the painting). The women are talking and getting ready for a ceremony. There is one man (wati) sitting down with his waru (spear). The spinifex is dry and so the man is walking around making bushfires. He is a good man, he is undertaking controlled burnings so the spinifex burns up and then good fruits can grow after this. There are several symbols in this painting. The small sun-like symbols represent women’s body painting – these are the images the women are painting on each other as they sit down ready for inma – traditional ceremony. There is a dry creek bed running through the painting (in red and white), and there are cracks in the ground and claypans. There are also dried rockholes (tjukula), and next to them are tali – sandhills.

Our printing is a hand process that traditional handicraft workers can adopt, already having a similar skills set. Handicrafts in general are struggling to survive, pushed aside by industrial mass production. People are being displaced from their home villages due to lack of income. Screen printing is both productive and a clean industry that can be practiced on a small scale. We use water based inks. The designs belong to Aboriginal artists, who receive generous royalties on every purchase made.