Woodend Country House has donated a stunning original artwork by Marlene Young Nungurrayi, which is on auction to raise money for the next annual Woodend Winter Arts Festival.
The piece, entitled Women’s Dreaming, uses a rich combination of colours and patterns to represent the Tingari journey path of Kungka Kutjara, the traveling Ancestor women.
Incorporating body paint designs and elements relating to women’s creation stories, Young Nungurrayi’s painting captures the true essence of the desert country.
She noted that her art has a deep connection to her and her mother’s country, Kalkurr, in the Western Desert.
“My mother told me the Tjukurrpa stories – the Dreamtime. These are the Women’s Ceremonies I paint,” she said.
Woodend Winter Arts Festival executive and artistic director Jacqueline Ogeil said the painting was a beautiful, generous offer.
“I admire the symmetry and the colours. The movement and stillness combined – which reminds me of the outback in the late afternoon heat.”
According to Ogeil, the painting will greatly benefit both the not for profit company and more broadly, the community as a whole.
“Economically, for local businesses and for tourism, the festival advertises the region and brings people in from out of the area. We create work for musicians, writers and artists and have an important educational profile. Without fundraising we could not sustain the Festival”, Ogeil said.
The painting will be on auction until September 28. Bids can be made online.
Details: www.32auctions.com/wwaf2024
Lara Prust
