MAWALAN MARIKA

Painted at Yirrkala, North East Arnhem Land circa 1964
Private collection, Canada
Purchased by the vendor's parents in Perth in 1965.

The bark is in relatively good condition for a painting of this period and age. There are four holes pierced in the top corners of the bark and some fraying and fine cracks extending from the upper edge and four similar holes near the lower margin. There is considerable fraying and splitting near the lower left hand corner. There are numerous hair line cracks throughout the surface of the bark and many small areas on the surface where pigment is missing, the worst being in the white pigment, however the majority of the pigment remaining appears to be relatively stable.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The painting depicts the Djang'kawu ancestors who created the Dhuwa moiety clans in eastern Arnhem Land. They came across the sea, from the east, and landed at Yalangbara where they created first human beings and the natural resources required for living. They then travelled across the land repeating their creative acts, thereby bringing into being a number of related clans.

A senior custodian of rites associated with the Djang'kawu ancestors, Mawalan has depicted the two Djang'kawu sisters either side of a vertically oriented hollow log on which two goannas, Djanda, are painted; below the sisters are two plains turkeys or brolga called Buwada. These are the first creatures the ancestors encountered upon landing on the beach at Yalangbara. The upper section depicts the sunrise.

The overall composition of the painting is based on the template for depicting this episode as it occurred on the country of each related clan. In Mawalan's case, it is the Rirratjingu clan's version of events at Yalangbara. In a section of the famous Dhuwa moiety church panel at Yirrkala, painted in 1963, Mithinarri Gurruwiwi depicts the same scene in the land of the Galpu clan. The latter was painted under the supervision of Mawlan Marika. In her book about the Yirrkala Church Panels (This Their Dreaming: Legends of the Panels of Aboriginal art in the Yirrkala Church, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia 1971), A.E. Wells describes the upper register as depicting the rising sun, where the thin lines across the face of the sun represent cirrus clouds on the horizon, while other thin lines represent the shadows cast by trees in the dawn light (pp.34-6)