This is how we see 'em | Spinifex Hill Studio

This is how we see ‘em

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood, You know this is the Owl, Acrylic on canvas, 76 x 61 cm

21 April - 23 May 2020

This is how we see ‘em An Online Exhibition Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney In association with Spinifex Hill Studio, Port Hedland, WA www.aboriginalpacificart.com.au To arrange viewing appointments and for enquires please email

info@aboriginalpacificart.com.au or call (02) 9699 2211

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood painting

This is how we see ‘em presents the work of three leading Aboriginal artists from Spinifex Hill Studio in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Spinifex Hill Studio is home to one of the youngest Aboriginal art collectives in the north-west of Australia, Spinifex Hill Artists.

It is a place where people come together to connect through a passion for family, culture, and art.

“Everyone here is all related or connected, there’s no arguments, there’s happy feelings in here.” – Sheila Gardiner, daughter of Nyaparu (William) Gardiner (1943-2018) and Nyangulya Katie Nalgood.

This couldn’t be truer for exhibiting artists Nyangulya Katie Nalgood, the late Nyaparu (William) Gardiner, and Winnie Sampi, who have shared a unique bond at the art centre.

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood and Winnie both migrated from the Kimberley region, and Spinifex Hill Studio has worked as a place to connect them.

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner and Winnie Sampi re-connected at Spinifex Hill Studio having gone to school together. Nyaparu would always bring his guitar into the art centre and everyone would sing along with him.

Even though Nyaparu (William) Gardiner has passed way, Nyangulya and Winnie still continue to share photos and memories with one another, and enjoy seeing each other at the art centre. It means they can still stay connected and stay connected to him.

In this exhibition, Nyangulya Katie Nalgood’s representational paintings celebrate and document birds of Western Australia, the diverse feathered creatures filling her personal history as well as cultural life. Winnie Sampi’s paintings offer detailed landscapes of Western Australia, and the late Nyaparu (William) Gardiner’s paintings offer insight into his experience of the 1946 Pilbara strike, and his work on pastoral stations throughout the Pilbara and Kimberley.

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner Clancy McKenna #18-306 Acrylic on canvas 71 x 61 cm $ 5,200 Photographed Bo Wong

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner (1943 - 2018) is an artist, storyteller and language worker. For several years he recorded and wrote Nyangumarta language and stories. Nyaparu paints about his childhood in the 1940s before the Pilbara Aboriginal strike of 1946, and his work on pastoral stations throughout the Pilbara and the Kimberley. Nyaparu has now returned to live in Port Hedland, his childhood home.

“My name is William Gardiner, and this is my life story that I’m telling you.

Some of these paintings that I illustrate is just to show that that’s how we used to live, mostly around this Pilbara area to Marble Bar. I like to draw this sort of things… I’m learning my grandchildren to understand old sort of things like this, and my children they already know.”

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner Untitled #18-309 Acrylic on canvas 71 x 61 cm $ 5,200 Photographed Bo Wong

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner Number Two Man #18-397 Acrylic on linen 71 x 61 cm $ 5,200 Photographed Bo Wong

Winnie Sampi Fishing for Fresh Water Fish #18-1203 Acrylic on linen 40.5 x 30.5 cm $ 884

“I was born in Carnarvon in 1948. My mother is Yindjibarndi. I went to school in Onslow, moved to Broome in the 1980s and I now live in Port Hedland.

I used to really enjoy going out to the stations on Christmas holidays at Red Hill.

We used to go hunting and fishing in the little pools. I used to do housework out at the stations – cooking and cleaning – it was easy, not that hard work. I enjoyed it. I’ve got a big mob of kids and grannies, don’t ask me how many, they spread all over everywhere.

I started painting in 2008 with the Spinifex Hill Artists. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing I picked it up as I was going along. I reckon you gotta teach yourself as you go along. Say I wanted to do an anthill, I don’t know how to do that! I have to guess how it should look, how the little holes look, it’s the same with everything. I’m learning how to look.

I don’t know how I choose my landscapes. I don’t work from photos. When I paint I travel back to the place. This is how I see ‘em.”

- Winnie Sampi

Winnie Sampi “Paru” #18-1204 Acrylic on linen 40.5 x 30.5 cm $ 884

Winnie Sampi Spinifex Country #19-573 Acrylic on linen 40.5 x 30.5 cm $ 884

Winnie Sampi Going out Bush #19-1287 Acrylic on linen 45.5 x 30.5 cm $ 926

Winnie Sampi painting

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Big Owl #19-938 Acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 71 cm $ 1,352

“Birds are the first things we see, you know, when we wake up. See and hear. Birds are like roosters to us, they wake us up in the mornings. And when the sun goes down they go to sleep and we go to sleep. You know us old people start and finish the day with the birds. That’s everyday life between birds and humans, you know. That’s what I think about anyway.”

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood has a strong affinity with birds, the diverse feathered creatures filling her personal history as well as cultural life. They are as much a part of her Country as she is, and their songs are the sound memories of her home. Nyangulya started out painting only the birds native to her Country in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, and collaborated with family members to help her sketch out their forms. Her technical skill has since become more refined, and she now works independently. Her imagination has also expanded, and she looks to birds from across Western Australia, finding inspiration in their different colours, forms, and personalities.

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Cheeky Ones #19-1209 Acrylic on canvas 76 x 76 cm $ 1,144

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Those are the flamingos #19-1038 Acrylic on canvas 152 x 101.5 cm $ 2,496

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood You know this is the Owl #19-1371 Acrylic on canvas 76 x 61 cm $ 1,020

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Blue Ren #19-1446 Acrylic on canvas 61 x 61 cm $ 884

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Looking out for you #20-9 Acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 76 cm $ 1,352

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood The Biggest Family #20-91 Acrylic on canvas 122 x 61 cm $ 1,306

Nyaparu (William) Gardiner Birth Date:

1943 - 2018

Language:

Nyangumarta

Warnman

Manjilyjarra

Skin:

Banaga

Place of Birth

Western Desert

Home

South Hedland : WA

Solo Exhibitions 2019 Ballad of Nyaparu (William) Gardiner, TARNANTHI 2017 Outside Men, Vivien Anderson Gallery, VIC 2017 Old People, Suzanne OConnell Gallery, QLD Group Exhibitions 2018 Hedland Art Award, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, WA 2018 Paddington Finalist, Sydney WA 2018 Black Swan Finalist, Perth WA 2018 35th Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, NT 2018 Cossack Art Award, Portrait Award, Cassack WA 2018 Stockman, Strikers and Sundown - Vivien Anderson Gallery, VIC 2018 Dream Mine Time - FORM Gallery, Perth 2018 Good Enough! The Art of Spinifex Hill Artists - Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin NT 2018 Pujiman - Spinifex Hill Artists and Martumili Artists (touring exhibition) WA 2017 TARNANTHI 2017, Art Gallery of South Australia 2017 Hedland Art Award, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery 2017 Cossack Art Award, Cossack WA 2017 Hadley Art Prize, TAS 2017 44th Muswellbrook Prize, NSW 2016 Biggest Mob - the Spinifex Hill Artists 2016 Hedland Art Award, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery 2016 33rd Telstra NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, NT 2016 Anything Colours, Paul Johnstone Gallery, NT 2015 We Call It Home - Spinifex Hill Artists, FORM Gallery, WA 2015 Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery Port Hedland, WA 2015 We Call It Home - Spinifex Hill Artists, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA 2010 Before The Town Got Big, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA Collections Western Australian Museum, WA Art Gallery of Western Australia, WA Curtin University Collection, WA Flinders University Collection, VIC Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, NT Awards 2019 Work on Paper Award, 36th Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, NT 2018 Best Portrait Award, Cossack Art Award, WA 2018 Finalist Black Swan Prize, Art Gallery of Western Australia 2018 Finalist 35th Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, NT 2017 Best Work in a Medium Other than Painting - 2017 Hedland Art Award - Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA 2017 Best Painting by a Pilbara Indigenous Artist - Cossack Art Award, WA 2017 Finalist 44th Muswellbrook Art Prize, WA 2017 Highly Commended - Hadley Art Prize, Hobart, TAS 2016 Finalist 33rd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, NT 2016 Most Outstanding Work - 2016 Hedland Art Award - Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA 2015 Best Indigenous Artwork - 2015 Hedland Art Awards, Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA

Winnie Sampi Birth Date:

1948

Language:

Banjiyma

Skin:

Place of Birth

Carnarvon

Home

South Hedland : WA

Solo Exhibitions 2014 This is how I see em - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery Group Exhibitions 2019 Perth Royal Art Prize, Perth, WA 2019 Salon des Refuses, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 2019 Cossack Art Award, Cossack, WA 2019 6722, Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA 2019 Paru [Spinifex], Artitja Fine Art Gallery, Perth, WA 2018 Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery 2018 Womens Show, Southern Buoy Studios, VIC 2018 Cossack Art Award, Cossack WA 2018 Stockmen, Strikers and Sundown - Vivien Anderson Gallery, VIC 2018 Good Enough! The Art of Spinifex Hill Artists - Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin NT 2018 Womens Show - Vivien Anderson Gallery, VIC 2018 Pujiman - Spinifex Hill Artists and Martumili Artists (touring exhibition) WA 2017 Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery 2017 Cossack Art Award, Cossack, WA 2017 Womens Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, VIC 2016 Anything Colours, Paul Johnstone Gallery, NT 2015 We Call It Home - FORM Gallery, Perth, WA 2015 Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery 2015 We Call It Home, FORM Gallery, WA 2010 Before The Town Got Big - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery Awards 2016 Finalist 33rd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, NT 2015 Best Work by an Emerging Artist - Hedland Art Awards - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery

Nyangulya Katie Nalgood Birth Date:

1946

Language:

Walmajarri

Skin:

Nyapurru

Place of Birth

Derby

Home

Looma : WA

“I was born in Liveringa Station in the Kimberley. You come to the Myroodah River crossing, then you’re there.

I grew up there and went to school at Camballin, then I went to Derby High School and then to boarding school at Sir James Mitchell in Mount Lawley.

I came back to Camballin to finish my school there. I been coming up and back [ever since], Kimberley to Port Hedland. I like coming here to art; keeping busy, better than sitting at home. Painting and relaxing, that’s why I like coming here..

Solo Exhibitions 2020 JALMARRA-JARTI All the birds have wings, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT 2018 Jirrugu Wanti (All the Birds), Galerie Zadra, Luxembourg Group Exhibitions 2019 Cossack Art Award, Cossack, WA 2019 Paru [Spinifex], Artitja Fine Art Gallery, Perth, WA 2018 Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, WA 2018 Salon des Refuses, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 2018 Cossack Art Award, Cossack, WA 2018 Good Enough! The Art of Spinifex Hill Artists - Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin NT 2018 Pujiman - Spinifex Hill Artists and Martumili Artists (touring exhibition) WA 2017 Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, WA 2016 Biggest Mob - the Spinifex Hill Artists 2010 Before The Town Got Big

This is how we see ‘em Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney In association with Spinifex Hill Studio, Port Hedland, WA An online exhibition 21 April - 23 May 2020 All images copyright the Artists, Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Studio

Aboriginal & Pacific Art, 1/24 Wellington Street, Waterloo, NSW, 2017 Australia Ph: +61 2 9699 2211 E: info@aboriginalpacificart.com.au W: www.aboriginalpacificart.com.au