ROVER THOMAS (JOOLAMA)

Painted in 1987
Mary Macha, Perth
Sir John and Elaine Cruthers Collection,
Perth, acquired from the above in 1995

The yellow brown and black pigments are adhered with natural binders (bush gum) and appear in a good and stable condition. Many of the white dots in various areas of the painting are missing or are cracked and unstable. There are further minor areas of scratches and scuffs on the painted surface
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Cf. Rover Thomas, Grugrugi: Owl, 1989, in the Holmes à Court Collection, in Carrigan, B. (ed.), Rover Thomas: I want to paint, The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, 2003, catalogue number 20; and Paddy Jaminji, Dumbun (owls), c.1978, in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, in Taylor, L. (ed.), Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 1999, p.19, pl.4, illus.

Two of the most important totemic beings in the central Kimberley are Wodoi the Spotted Nightjar and Junggun the Owlet Nightjar, who in human form, created the moieties and the rules of marriage, and other cultural practices. They are associated with Wanjina beings known as Wanalirri, and through the Wunan exchange ceremonial cycle which the Owls created, spread affiliations to the Wanjina ancestors to the eastern Kimberley. The Wanalirri song cycle composed around 1972 by the Worora elder, Wattie Ngerdu, relates to a battle between the Wanjina and humans over the treatment of the Owls by children. The battle nearly caused the destruction of the human race. The Spotted Nightjar (Eurostopodus argus) and the Owlet Nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) are common to parts of the Kimberley, especially around the Argyle Diamond mine area. (Akerman, K., 'The Art of the Kurirr-Kurirr' in Taylor 1999, pp.17-8)

The 'ears' on the figure of the Owl in this painting suggest a connection with Paddy Tjamatji's (Jaminji) images of Jimpi, one of the guiding spirits in the Kurirr Kurirr ceremonial cycle; see Jimpi the devil-devil, c.1978, in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, in Taylor 1999, p.25, pl.6, and in Ryan, J. and K. Akerman (eds.), Images of Power: Aboriginal art of the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1993, p.36, illus.