PAINTED SEASONS: Times for Hunting and Food Gathering

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY in collaboration with Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency presents

PAINTED SEASONS: Times for Hunting and Food Gathering A Solo Show by Eva Nargoodah A Collection of Fine Mangkaja Indigenous Art

16 th September - 17 th October 2015

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of the this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.

c o n t e m p o r a r y

f i n e

i n d i g e n o u s

a r t

Landscape of Eva’s home, Jimblakudunj Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts and Resource Agency

PAINTED SEASONS: Times for Hunting and Food Gathering A Collection of Fine Mangkaja Indigenous Art The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is extremely honoured to be hosting the first ever solo show for Eva, a Walmajarri woman born on Christmas Creek Station in early 1958. During her early years she shifted between several Stations as she followed her parents, her father being a stockman and her mother a home helper.

After completing her schooling in Derby, Eva returned to Christmas Creek to become a teacher and it was here in 1984 that she met her husband and married. Eva believes in big families and has 9 children, 18 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Indeed, so busy was she kept by her family that Eva was a very late-comer to the world of art as she waited until her children were grown up.

Eva paints her Grandmother’s country and the laws that she was taught by her. She paints her style of seasons and bush tucker inspired by her childhood memories of winter rains and the cold weather; an unusual departure from the normal dreamtime interpretations of many of her fellow Mangkaja Art Resource Agency artists.

Eva Nargoodah working on her painting (119/14) Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts and Resource Agency

PAINTED SEASONS:Times for Hunting and Food Gathering, is a collection of 15 major works on canvas by Eva, the largest body of work that has ever been amassed in one show over a period of almost two years. Her work is in such demand that it normally sells before ever leaving the art centre studio, usually to travelling collectors or enthusiasts who fall in love, whilst visiting the community in Fitzroy Crossing, with her intricate interpretations of the seasonal changes in the North Western deserts.

Remarking on her work, art coordinator Wes Maselli says of her work: “Individuation and total distraction. I’ve never known a mother to look after so many kids, 9 of her own by birth, but many more. Managing this many kids can be chaotic, yet Eva manages them with a fine, positive rhythm. I imagine if she is not attending to kids, Eva is painting and vice versa. Likewise, each painted line a trillvoiced placation, each painting a lullaby.”

The exhibition begins on Wednesday 16th September and runs until Saturday 17th October 2015 and will be attended in person by Eva and her husband, in what will be their first ever trip to Singapore. A must-see show for anyone interested in following the recent developments in Indigenous Art and an opportunity to meet a beautiful and talented proponent of one of the world’s oldest art forms.

Giorgio Pilla Director ReDot Fine Art Gallery

Eva Nargoodah Working on New Painting (316/15) Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts and Resource Agency

“My Jaja, my mother’s mother, was born at a Jila called Pudja, between Warlkali and Yirramarral.When I was young she would tell me stories of living in the desert, what and where they would hunt in the different seasons. She would draw pictures in the sand.

These are the lines that I paint, her lines.”

Eva Nargoodah

Eva NARGOODAH

Birth Date Language Country Skin

20/01/1958 Walmajarri/Wangkajunga/Gooniyandi Christmas Creek Nakamarra

I was born on Christmas Creek Station and grew up with my parents until the age of six. My dad was a stockman and my mother worked in the house. I was taken away to GoGo Station where my great-grandmother lived. We moved there with the manager from Christmas Creek.

His name was Vic Johns. At GoGo Station my father worked at the stock camp again and my mother in the house.

Next we shifted to Cherrabun Station where I went to school in 1965 at the men’s quarter. I moved to many different places. From Cherrubun we went back to Christmas Creek. I spent my next few years at school in Derby and worked at Christmas Creek school as a teacher. In 1984 I was married. I have nine children and nine grandchildren.

I started painting after my kids grew up. I paint my grandmother’s country and what she has taught me. I paint my style of seasons, bush tucker paintings and my childhood memories of winter rains and cold weather. Today I live at Jimbalakudunj Community, 120 km southwest of Fitzroy Crossing.

Collections National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,VIC, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing High School, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing Hospital, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2015 PAINTED SEASONS: Times for Hunting and Food Gathering - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2011 Eva Nargoodah - Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2012 Mangkaja Arts 21 Year Anniversary, Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Prints & Papers - Nomad Art, Darwin & Canberra, NT & ACT, Australia.

2011 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2009 Artworks on Paper - Papyrus Gallery, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia.

Margaret River Meets Fitzroy Crossing - Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

Emerging and Re-emerging - Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Eva Nargoodah with Rosie Tarco - Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

2008 Revealed - Central TAFE, Perth, WA, Australia.

Mangkaja Arts - A.P. Bond Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Divas of the Desert - Gallery Gondwana, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Marnintu Maparnana (Women Painting) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore 2007 Women Artists of Fitzroy Crossing - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2005 Wangkatjungka - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

True Colours - Suzanne O’Connell Australian Indigenous Art with Dell Gallery, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

22nd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, NT, Australia.

2003 Group Show - Japinga Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

Wangkatjungka - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2002 Group Show - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2001 Fremantle Print Award - Fremantle Art Centre, Perth, WA, Australia.

1999 Story Boards Ceramic Tiles from the Kimberley - Fremantle Art Centre, Perth, WA, Australia.

1995 Mangkaja: Old Mangkaja, New Prints - Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Eva Nargoodah and her Family Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts and Resource Agency

Eva NARGOODAH

Parranga Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 160 x 160cm 193/15

Parranga is the hot season or dry time when every grass, trees and spinifex all dry up and all the leaves go brown, yellow, orange and purple and the wind blows them away. They wait for the rainy season to come. During the parranga period, Eva and her family go hunting, fishing and camping out bush or by the river. Eva likes painting parranga because most of the pretty flowers bloom at this time.

Every parranga you would find purple flowers blooming, which are called Mullamulla. They can be found everywhere, growing on small bushes.You see them in the black soil country, and after fire has come through. They have a lovely scent and Eva likes to hang them in her house.

It’s a soothing smell for everyone, both children and adults.

Detail of Parranga (193/15)

Eva NARGOODAH

Kulparn Trees Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 180 x 120cm 119/14

Kulparn trees are tall and bushy. They have yellow flowers which are long and have green seed pods. Seeds are cooked in hot sand and you can eat them when they are dry and turned black.

My jaja (grandmother) used to grind the dried seeds into flour. We used to use this flour when we had no normal flour.

Eva NARGOODAH

Winter Rain (Kuluwa) Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 120cm 71/13

During the gentle monsoon rains, people stay inside and sing rain songs. The Fitzroy Crossing River rises. My country, Christmas Creek, gets full and floods. The water covers the plain and fills the billabongs (rarrakatji). It can rain for weeks and weeks.

Detail of Winter Rain (Kuluwa) (71/13)

Eva NARGOODAH

Bush Fire (Warlu) Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 120cm 444/14

During an electrical storm, lightning hits the white rocks and starts a bush fire.

Eva NARGOODAH

Mangu Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 120cm 322/15

On the other side of Kupartiya, there is a big spring you could access by climbing the hills on the other side of the river, near Nipper’s dam. The spring has beautiful white sand and lots of Dinjil (snappy gum trees). Eva would take her children there when they were young.

Gooniyandi people used to live there building yards. They used to collect seeds and bush medicine. The Walmajarri name for that place is Mangu, meaning big perch (a kind of fish).

Eva NARGOODAH

Parranga Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 90cm 430/14

Parranga is the hot season or dry time when every grass, trees and spinifex all dry up and all the leaves go brown, yellow, orange and purple and the wind blows them away. They wait for the rainy season to come. During the parranga period, Eva and her family go hunting, fishing and camping out bush or by the river. Eva likes painting parranga because most of the pretty flowers bloom at this time.

Every parranga you would find purple flowers blooming, which are called Mullamulla. They can be found everywhere, growing on small bushes.You see them in the black soil country, and after fire has come through. They have a lovely scent and Eva likes to hang them in her house.

It’s a soothing smell for everyone, both children and adults.

Eva NARGOODAH

Pupaja/Beefwood Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 90cm 248/15

Pupaja is a creek near Beefwood Park Station. It is a salty creek and at sunset, the creek changes colour from pink then blue. We were told not to walk down to the creek as the salt would burn your feet.

Eva NARGOODAH

Dry Season Atelier Artist Acrylic on 11oz Canvas 100 x 80cm 290/14

This is when the wind blows, the sun is hot and everything is dry. Green grass is fading and the trees lose their leaves. The blue dots represent water and which is nearly drying up in the waterholes. The Barrang Barrang flowers come out in hot weather. They have many different colours.

Eva NARGOODAH

Jitapurru Atelier Artist Acrylic on 11oz Canvas 100 x 80cm 445/14

In my painting, there is a desert background and lots of Jitapurru grass growing. My jaja (grandmother) used the fine glossy grass to boil bush medicine for her cold when she fell sick.

My jaja and jabi would make a mangkaja (wet weather shelter) out of strong branch and cover all over with spinifex grass. We were always dry and kept warm, out of the rain and cold winter nights. This happened a long time ago.

Eva NARGOODAH

Kulparn Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 90 x 90cm 559/11

Kulparn (wattle tree) grows seed pods that hang down everywhere from a low shrub. As a small child, my grandmother would get me to collect the seed pods so she could cook them on the fire. When the seed pods are all dried up, the old ladies collect them and yarrikanu (winnow) them with their coolaman, which are then ready for grinding into flour. I grew up on this bush tucker. That’s why I paint them.

Eva NARGOODAH

Parranga Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 60cm 328/15

Parranga is the hot season or dry time when every grass, trees and spinifex all dry up and all the leaves go brown, yellow, orange and purple and the wind blows them away. They wait for the rainy season to come. During the parranga period, Eva and her family go hunting, fishing and camping out bush or by the river. Eva likes painting parranga because most of the pretty flowers bloom at this time.

Every parranga you would find purple flowers blooming, which are called Mullamulla. They can be found everywhere, growing on small bushes.You see them in the black soil country, and after fire has come through. They have a lovely scent and Eva likes to hang them in her house.

It’s a soothing smell for everyone, both children and adults.

Eva NARGOODAH

Junda (Bush Onion) Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 120 x 60cm 269/14

Cold weather season is the time to collect junda. My grandmother used to collect them from the ground. After the rain, young junda plants are green. The yellow and brown ones are dry junda plants. Black ones are fully grown.

Eva NARGOODAH

Mungu Waterhole Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 60 x 90cm 180/15

It is right out on top of the sand hills not far from Kupartiya, south east of Fitzroy Crossing.

We (my family) used to go there for picnics, usually on Saturday or Sunday and we would camp overnight. It was a good time for hunting and finding mangarri (bush vegetables).

Eva NARGOODAH

Parta/Kulparn Atelier Acrylic Paint on 14oz Canvas 60 x 60cm 28/15

These are wattle trees and seeds.

Eva NARGOODAH

Parranga Atelier Artist Acrylic on 11oz Canvas 100 x 30cm 316/15

Parranga is the hot season or dry time when every grass, trees and spinifex all dry up and all the leaves go brown, yellow, orange and purple and the wind blows them away. They wait for the rainy season to come. During the parranga period, Eva and her family go hunting, fishing and camping out bush or by the river. Eva likes painting parranga because most of the pretty flowers bloom at this time.

Every parranga you would find purple flowers blooming, which are called Mullamulla. They can be found everywhere, growing on small bushes.You see them in the black soil country, and after fire has come through. They have a lovely scent and Eva likes to hang them in her house.

It’s a soothing smell for everyone, both children and adults.

Eva NARGOODAH

Parrang Parrang Silkscreen Print on 76 x 56cm 250gsm Paper 59 x 42cm 116/12

Parrang Parrang are small yellow flowers that grow in hot weather. They are like a bunch of bush that are small with very yellow flowers. I used to pick them and eat the tiny seeds which taste like nuts.

Eva Nargoodah Working on New Painting Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts and Resource Agency

In collaboration with

And with a very special thanks to Eva

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY Old Hill Street Police Station 140 Hill Street, #01-08 Singapore 179369 +65 6222 1039 • info@redotgallery.com

3 2

5

1

3 2

3

3

1

4

2

3

4

5

DROP OFF

BUS SERVICES

PARKING

NEAREST MRT

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY

Drive in entrance along River Valley Road

124, 145, 147, 166, 174, 190, 851 (Alight on Hill Street)

Parking available at

Clarke Quay MRT station is located along Eu Tong Sen Street

Old Hill Street Police Station 140 Hill Street, #01-08 Singapore 179369

32, 54, 195 (Alight on River Valley Road)

• Clarke Quay • Funan DigitaLife Mall • High Street Centre • The Central

Open Daily 12pm - 7pm All Other Times by Appointment

www.redotgallery.com © ReDot Fine Art Gallery. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retriever system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of ReDot Fine Art Gallery.

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of the this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.