An exhibition with Mulkun Wirrpanda.

The same plant, be it mawuka yam or darwirr vine, is viewed through the lens of two completely different world views and two completely different ways of representation.

Exhibition Dates: 29 October – 21 November 2015

This is an exhibition about one of the most wild and powerful landscapes in the world – the monsoon rain forests and floodplains of East Arnhem Land  – as seen through the different lenses of two of Australia’s most distinguished senior artists.  Large watercolours, woodcuts, bark paintings and larrakitj image the essential nature and dynamic energy of a range of endemic tropical plants with their yams, edible tubers, and fruits. The works surround the visitor to the exhibition – Wirrpanda’s images of particular plants juxtaposed with Wolseley’s drawings and paintings of the same species.  For example, her bark showing one of the region’s huge yams, manmuna in the Yolnu language, has luxuriant heart shaped leaves which almost morph into the tumbling foliage of Wolseley’s nature print of the same plant beneath it.  Likewise a painting on bark of an ancient cycad with its exuberant fruits suggests a line of connection across the gallery to a drawing by Wolseley of another cycad species reflected in the still dark water of a forest pool.

When the artists first met, Wirrpanda had already started to paint an epic series of bark paintings and larrakitj about the plants of her homeland: a small section of which is included in this exhibition.  This is a powerful group of paintings which demonstrates her urgent and passionate desire to pass on to new generations her vast knowledge before it is lost.

Mulkun Wirrpanda is a senior female artist for the Dhudi-Djapu clan from Dhuruputjpi.  She is an acknowledged leader of her clan and has a lifetime’s knowledge of her country. This vast knowledge is distilled into her works.  One of many lasting legacies of her recent body of works dealing with food plants is that this information will be preserved for the future generations.  It is particularly important for those plants that are no longer collected or valued in the way they had been in the past.  For example the works depicting wild orange or bunjunu which was an important food in her youth.  She has often spoken in a heartfelt way about how this is one of the main purposes of her art.

John Wolseley has lived and worked all over the continent and is known for his large scale works on paper which relate the minutiae of plant, bird and insect to the greater movements of the earth’s geological and ecological systems. Wolseley and Wirrpanda first met in 2009 when John was in Baniyala as one of a group of Yolnu and balanda and visiting artists working on the wonderful project and touring exhibition Djalkiri – We are standing on the their names   organised by Nomad Art of Darwin.

As part of this project, the artists, scientists and anthropologists were hosted by Djambawa Marawili.  They drew and worked on their etchings and lithographs around Blue Mud Bay and later in the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala.  After a day spent harvesting tubers and yams, Wirrpanda asked Wolseley to be her wawa or brother and gave him the name of Langgurrk; a type of beetle grub which lives in mud and yams.  Since then they have met each year in the Midawarr season, wandering through rainforest and floodplain, collecting and painting the rich diversity of yam, tuber and fruit.

The artists have also collaborated in a series of woodcuts on Huon pine, The Midawarr Harvest Series.  Seven large prints by Wirrpanda and four by Wolseley celebrate the same edible plants.

For this series Wolseley took huge slabs or blocks of Huon Pine from Tasmania to Yirrkala where Wirrpanda and Wolseley then engraved their woodcuts into these rough wood blocks.  They were then proofed and printed by Annie Studd and the Yolnu printmakers at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre Print Workshop and by John Wolseley at his studio in Victoria with the help of printmakers Kaitlyn Gibson and Cassandra Gill.

Two of Mulkun’s prints Rakay # 2 and  #3 are printed on stringybark made by Winsome Jobling, the Darwin based paper artist.  Something extraordinary happens when the work is printed on paper made from the actual place rather than imported European papers from France or Italy.

During this time Wolseley also took on the viewpoint of the Langgurrk, in a number of prints made directly from ‘life histories’ engraved by beetles under the bark of trees. The Boring Beetle and Moth Compendium 2015 is a group of relief prints showing the progression of changes undergone by a beetle during its lifetime. In a fallen branch randomly chosen from the forest floor, he has found a whole world in miniature form. An epic story of birth and transformation which brings to mind the connection that the ancient Egyptians saw between the scarab beetles rolling a ball of dung across the ground and the way the sun rolls across the sky and is reborn each dawn.  

Though coming from very different directions, there are correspondences and synchronies between the works of these two artists. In a curious way, aspects of the scientific foundation of the European tradition correspond to elements in Wirrpanda’s Yolnu approach.  Her depiction of plants and their habitats reveal her huge knowledge of seasonal changes, morphologies and types of energy. Howard Morphy has recognized the complexity of this knowledge system; pointing to the Yolnu ’belief that the surface forms of things derive from underlying structures and relationships’.  In several of his works Wolseley refers to earlier artists and scientists and he sometimes says that he likes to play along the boundary between art and science.  In The Power of Movement in Plants – Discorides’ Yam Climbing Leonardo’s tree Wolseley references what could be described as one of the great originary drawings from the dawn of science – the tree Leonardo da Vinci drew when thinking about the growth of trees, branches, river systems, and vascular systems.  In the companion work The Power of Movement in Plants – Dioscorides’ Yam with Darwin’s Diagram, he has used one of the methods which Charles Darwin employed to document the movement of plants.  In this painting the dance of a vine as it climbs up to the sun is shown in a form of choreographic notation.

In this exhibition the same plant, be it mawuka yam or darwirr vine is viewed through the lens of two completely different world views and two completely different ways of representation.  Wirrpanda’s art flows from a culture that has evolved over thousands of years out of the country itself.  Wolseley’s art is part of the European landscape tradition based on the study of the physical and natural world through observation and experience.

An important connection between these artists is a strong belief in the originary and primary importance of the natural world – its plants, animals and eco-systems.  And a shared awareness of how our accelerating loss of connection with country will result in damage beyond repair.

‘The task of the artist is to keep and repair the sacred web of creation’ – George Mackay Brown


John Wolseley (b. 1938) is one of Australia's most well-respected contemporary artists.  In 2005, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by Macquarie University and was also awarded the Visual Art Emeritus Award by the Australia Council. Wolseley recently exhibited a solo show at the National Gallery of Victoria titled Heartlands and Headwaters and his work has been selected for numerous important group exhibitions such as Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2014), International Print Exhibition, Australia and Japan, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan; Fukiyama Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan (2014), The Skullbone Experiment, UNSW Galleries, Sydney (2014), The 18th Biennale of Sydney: all our relations, curated by Catherine de Zegher and Gerald McMaster, Sydney (2012), and Reframing Darwin: evolution and art in Australia, at The Ian Potter Museum of Art in Melbourne (2009). A major monograph, John Wolseley: Land Marks by Sasha Grishin was published in 1998 by Craftsman House, a second, expanded edition was published in 2006 and a third edition in 2015. John Wolseley's work is represented in all the major state galleries and in numerous private collections in Australia and internationally. Marrma dilakmala larruma gurra nathawu - Two Old Artists Looking for Food is John Wolseley's sixth exhibition with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.

Mulkun Wirrpanda is a senior female artist for the Dhudi-Djapu clan for Dhuruputjpi.  She is a daughter of the late Dhäkiyarr Wirrpanda and widow to Wakuthi Marawili, a Mau1e0farrpa clan leader who lived at Yilpara until his death in mid-2005.  She is also the mother (by kinship) to senior artist and clan leader Djambawa Marawili.  Mulkun paints
Dhudi-Djapu miny’tji (sacred design) that depicts her land at Dhuruputjpi.  As the eldest and most knowledgeable of her clan, she is acknowledged as a leader.  Mulkun is one of the few Yolu014bu women to have this status.  Mulkun was an early practitioner of works without figurative imagery within the miny’tji.  Until recently the painting of this ‘raw’ miny’tji was restricted to ceremonial use.  The work is always done using natural earth pigments (ochres).  Yalata and Darrangi are areas she usually paints, which are at her clan estate Dhuruputjpi, where she resides.  Mulkun paints on bark, larrakitj (memorial poles) and yidaki (didjeridus) and is a talented carver, weaver and print-maker.  Her works has been exhibited throughout Australia and Asia. 

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John Wolseley Boring Beetle and Moth Compendium, 2015; relief prints on gampi and mulberry paper and suspended wood elements; dimesnions variable; enquire
John Wolseley Boring Beetle and Moth Compendium, 2015
relief prints on gampi and mulberry paper and suspended wood elements
dimesnions variable
John Wolseley Ganguri, Yirri, Dhunguruk, Dirridirri, 2015; watercolour, graphite, plant leaf on paper; 97 x 221 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Ganguri, Yirri, Dhunguruk, Dirridirri, 2015
watercolour, graphite, plant leaf on paper
97 x 221 cm
John Wolseley Eliacharis sedge and Nymphaea Lilies, 2015; watercolour and plants on paper; 97 x 320.5 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Eliacharis sedge and Nymphaea Lilies, 2015
watercolour and plants on paper
97 x 320.5 cm
John Wolseley Nymphaea Lilies and Rakay, 2015; watercolour and graphite on paper; 172 x 121 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Nymphaea Lilies and Rakay, 2015
watercolour and graphite on paper
172 x 121 cm
John Wolseley Barrka-Lacewing Vine, 2015; watercolour, relief print, graphite on paper; 236 x 102 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Barrka-Lacewing Vine, 2015
watercolour, relief print, graphite on paper
236 x 102 cm
John Wolseley Tacca Leontopetaloides, 2015; watercolour with graphite rubbing overlay on paper; 188 x 101 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Tacca Leontopetaloides, 2015
watercolour with graphite rubbing overlay on paper
188 x 101 cm
John Wolseley Ganguri, vine and yam, 2015; from the series Midawarr Suite; lino cut and wood cut; 162 x 60 cm; Edition of 40; enquire
John Wolseley Ganguri, vine and yam, 2015
from the series Midawarr Suite
lino cut and wood cut
162 x 60 cm
Edition of 40
John Wolseley The Power of Movement in Plants - Dioscorides' Yam with Leonardo's Tree, 2015; watercolour, graphite, oil paint and plant material on paper; 235.5 x 114 cm; enquire
John Wolseley The Power of Movement in Plants - Dioscorides' Yam with Leonardo's Tree, 2015
watercolour, graphite, oil paint and plant material on paper
235.5 x 114 cm
John Wolseley The Power of Movement in Plants - Dioscorides' Yam with Darwin's Diagram, 2015; watercolour, oil paint and linocut on paper; 262 x 114 cm; enquire
John Wolseley The Power of Movement in Plants - Dioscorides' Yam with Darwin's Diagram, 2015
watercolour, oil paint and linocut on paper
262 x 114 cm
John Wolseley Bulwutja in the Durabudboi River, 2015; watercolour and graphite on paper; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Bulwutja in the Durabudboi River, 2015
watercolour and graphite on paper
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley Djitama - Cheeky Yam and Unknown Tuber, 2015; watercolour with relief print; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Djitama - Cheeky Yam and Unknown Tuber, 2015
watercolour with relief print
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley Monsoon rainforest flora, 2015; watercolour on paper; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Monsoon rainforest flora, 2015
watercolour on paper
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley Buwakul, Rakay and Nymphaea Lily, 2015; watercolour and graphite on paper; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Buwakul, Rakay and Nymphaea Lily, 2015
watercolour and graphite on paper
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley ᶇathu - Cycad, Le Cycas Englouti, 2015; watercolour on paper; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley ᶇathu - Cycad, Le Cycas Englouti, 2015
watercolour on paper
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley Ritharr and Dhunguruk, 2015; watercolour and graphite on paper; 93 x 118 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Ritharr and Dhunguruk, 2015
watercolour and graphite on paper
93 x 118 cm
John Wolseley Longicorn beetle, 2015; relief print and watercolour on paper; 11.5 x 57 cm; Edition of 40; enquire
John Wolseley Longicorn beetle, 2015
relief print and watercolour on paper
11.5 x 57 cm
Edition of 40
John Wolseley Umwelt of the Grey Box Beetle, 2015; relief print and watercolour on paper; Edition of 40; enquire
John Wolseley Umwelt of the Grey Box Beetle, 2015
relief print and watercolour on paper
Edition of 40
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt III, 2015; Unique relief print and watercolour on paper; 51 x 60 x 4 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt III, 2015
Unique relief print and watercolour on paper
51 x 60 x 4 cm
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt II, 2015; Unique relief print and watercolour on paper; 53 x 60.5 x 4 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt II, 2015
Unique relief print and watercolour on paper
53 x 60.5 x 4 cm
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt VI, 2015; Unique relief print and watercolour on paper; enquire
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt VI, 2015
Unique relief print and watercolour on paper
John Wolseley Grey Box Beetle Umwelt, 2015; relief print on paper; Edition of 20 + AP 1; enquire
John Wolseley Grey Box Beetle Umwelt, 2015
relief print on paper
Edition of 20 + AP 1
John Wolseley 101 Insect Life Stories No 13, Ur-Beetle, 2015; relief print and watercolour on paper; Edition of 20 + 1 AP; enquire
John Wolseley 101 Insect Life Stories No 13, Ur-Beetle, 2015
relief print and watercolour on paper
Edition of 20 + 1 AP
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt XIII, 2015; graphite rubbing on paper; 51 x 60 x 4 cm; enquire
John Wolseley Beetle Umwelt XIII, 2015
graphite rubbing on paper
51 x 60 x 4 cm
John Wolseley Ur-Yam, 2015; from the series Midawarr Suite; relief print; 220 x 125 cm; Edition of 5; enquire
John Wolseley Ur-Yam, 2015
from the series Midawarr Suite
relief print
220 x 125 cm
Edition of 5
John Wolseley The power and movement of the long yam, 2015; from the series Midawarr Suite; relief print on paper; 103 x 71 cm; Edition of 30; enquire
John Wolseley The power and movement of the long yam, 2015
from the series Midawarr Suite
relief print on paper
103 x 71 cm
Edition of 30
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bawa_, 2015; 4645J; Bark painting; 107 x 39 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bawa_, 2015
4645J
Bark painting
107 x 39 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dhuwa, 2015; 4671G; Bark painting; 121 x 115 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dhuwa, 2015
4671G
Bark painting
121 x 115 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Buwakul, 2015; 4199W; Bark painting; 62 x 34 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Buwakul, 2015
4199W
Bark painting
62 x 34 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Ganguri, 2015; 4794H; Bark painting; 93 x 51 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Ganguri, 2015
4794H
Bark painting
93 x 51 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Djitama, 2015; 4797Z; Bark painting; 90 x 51 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Djitama, 2015
4797Z
Bark painting
90 x 51 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Yolu_ga Gålurra, 2015; 4774I; Bark painting; 108 x 48 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Yolu_ga Gålurra, 2015
4774I
Bark painting
108 x 48 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015; 4786E; Bark painting; 89 x 43 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015
4786E
Bark painting
89 x 43 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bindiyalngu, 2015; 4788X; Bark painting; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bindiyalngu, 2015
4788X
Bark painting
Mulkun Wirrpanda Cycad, 2015; 4821L; Bark painting; 59 x 33 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Cycad, 2015
4821L
Bark painting
59 x 33 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gapu, 2015; 4520M; Bark painting; 81 x 42 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gapu, 2015
4520M
Bark painting
81 x 42 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015; 4816Q; Bark painting; 94 x 45 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015
4816Q
Bark painting
94 x 45 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015; 4786F; Bark painting; 59 x 29 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015
4786F
Bark painting
59 x 29 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015; 4816R; Bark painting; 100 x 36 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015
4816R
Bark painting
100 x 36 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda {arwirr, 2015; 4599M; Bark painting; 69 x 29 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda {arwirr, 2015
4599M
Bark painting
69 x 29 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Yolngu Dharpa, 2015; 4767J; Bark painting; 92 x 42 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Yolngu Dharpa, 2015
4767J
Bark painting
92 x 42 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda |athu, 2015; 4800D; Bark painting; 89 x 40 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda |athu, 2015
4800D
Bark painting
89 x 40 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015; 4786G; Bark painting; 70 x 24 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015
4786G
Bark painting
70 x 24 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gangurri, 2015; 4804P; Bark painting; 132 x 40 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gangurri, 2015
4804P
Bark painting
132 x 40 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dha_gi, 2015; 4635BA; Bark painting; 82 x 23 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dha_gi, 2015
4635BA
Bark painting
82 x 23 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Djulukun, 2015; 4583N; Bark painting; 86 x 17 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Djulukun, 2015
4583N
Bark painting
86 x 17 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Galurra, 2015; 4743V; Bark painting; 90 x 30 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Galurra, 2015
4743V
Bark painting
90 x 30 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Galayarr Birrkpirrk, 2015; 4524H; Bark painting; 41 x 15 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Galayarr Birrkpirrk, 2015
4524H
Bark painting
41 x 15 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Wuki[i, 2015; 3324P; 216 x 50 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Wuki[i, 2015
3324P
216 x 50 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Untitled, 2015; 4524I; Bark painting; 42 x 15 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Untitled, 2015
4524I
Bark painting
42 x 15 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay Larrakitj, 2015; 3288D; Larrakitj; 217 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay Larrakitj, 2015
3288D
Larrakitj
217 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015; Larrakitj; 175.5 x 20 x 20 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gutjawutja, 2015
Larrakitj
175.5 x 20 x 20 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gulwirri, 2015; 4829C; Larrakitj; 227 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gulwirri, 2015
4829C
Larrakitj
227 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda The Unknown Tree, 2015; Larrakitj; 225 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda The Unknown Tree, 2015
Larrakitj
225 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gulwirri, 2015; 4843H; Larrakitj; 234 cm; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Gulwirri, 2015
4843H
Larrakitj
234 cm
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #4, 2015; relief print on mulberry paper; Edition of 30; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #4, 2015
relief print on mulberry paper
Edition of 30
Mulkun Wirrpanda Buwukul, 2015; relief print on mulberry paper; Edition of 25; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Buwukul, 2015
relief print on mulberry paper
Edition of 25
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #1, 2015; relief print on mulberry paper; Edition of 25; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #1, 2015
relief print on mulberry paper
Edition of 25
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bundjungu, 2015; relief print on mulberry paper; Edition of 25; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Bundjungu, 2015
relief print on mulberry paper
Edition of 25
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015; relief print on mulberry paper; Edition of 25; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Dilminyin, 2015
relief print on mulberry paper
Edition of 25
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #3, 2015; relief print on stringybark paper; Edition of 30; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #3, 2015
relief print on stringybark paper
Edition of 30
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #2, 2015; relief print on stringybark paper; Edition of 30; enquire
Mulkun Wirrpanda Rakay #2, 2015
relief print on stringybark paper
Edition of 30