2020, Ochre on pandanus weaving
130 x 130 cm
“I was born in Darwin. When I was little, I stayed with my mum and dad in Madginbardi. Then, when I was 16/17, I came to Gunbalanya and got married. I’ve been here ever since.
I have been weaving for 22 years. I learned from my great grandmother, my mum’s grandmother. She used to make marebu (mat), big one. I started practising when I was young and tried on marebu, dilly bags and baskets. I wasn’t very good but when I was 20, I started getting better, doing my baskets and dillybags, string bags and floor mats. Old people, long time ago, were painting like this, mimih, djenj (fish), kinga (crocodile) — we call that bim (rock art). I picked up the idea of painting on the dilly bag from the old people. I get the ochre from outstation, Mandedjkadjang, my homeland.”