Floating life: contemporary Aboriginal fibre art

136 137 It has a forked tongue of fine twigs and a plume of soft grey feathers from the bustard or plains turkey, a slow-moving bird found in the savanna country close to where the artist lives. The pandanus is undyed, but natural pigments have been painted onto its unstable surface. The patterns represent the scales of the serpent, disguised within the bubbles of its freshwater environment. In 1986, Yarinkura experimented with bark painting in collaboration with her husband, Bob Burruwal. This diversion reflected her continuing fascination with fibre; she even represented a traditional, large, dam-like fish trap on bark by adhering grass and twigs to the painted surface. She had also begun making whimsical, fragile constructions of branches and feathers to represent different species of trees, following her inclination to make whatever she imagined, leaving the logistics of sale and transport to others. She later developed this interest, and Tree sculpture 2002 is a beautifully realised version of this original concept. By 1994, Yarinkura was constructing ambitious near-life-size figures of paperbark bound with string, and a configuration of these, Family drama , was awarded the Wandjuk Marika Memorial Three-Dimensional prize at the 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. 1 Yarinkura has also recently learned to make cast-metal sculptures, shaping plasticine for the mould from which the completed work is formed. She was the only woman selected for the exhibition ‘Out of the Mould’ in 2001, which featured the first works from Maningrida to be cast in bronze and aluminium. Yarinkura described her experiences with these media: The first thing I made was a dog. We broke it out of the mould and when it was hard they polished it up . . . the reason why I’m working now in metal is because it’s really strong. It’s good for big projects and it can go outside. I couldn’t put my pandanus work in a park, it would disappear in the rain. I haven’t stopped making things in pandanus, I’m just working harder to make things in metal too. 2 It is vital to Lena Yarinkura that she live creatively, in the country that she loves and cares for. She thinks deeply about her practice and holds firmly to her belief in the value and purpose of nature and culture, continuing to surprise and delight her audience in her quiet pursuit of a unique artistic vision. Endnotes 1 Yarinkura continued to draw on Kune narratives in developing her practice and was awarded the Wandjuk Marika prize again in 1997 for a group of yawkyawk (water spirit) figures. 2 Fiona Salmon, National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition [exhibition catalogue], National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2001, pp.90–1. Wayarra spirit 2005 Wooden sticks, paper bark, bark fibre, with natural pigments 238 x 41.5 x 4.5cm Acc. 2006.096 Purchased 2006. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation © Lena Yarinkura 2005. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2009 Ngalmudj (Rainbow serpent) (detail) 2004 Twined pandanus palm leaf, wood, feathers, paperbark, with natural pigments 23.5 x 370 x 14cm (complete) Acc. 2005.036a–c Purchased 2004. The Queensland Government’s special Centenary Fund © Lena Yarinkura 2004. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2009