This incredible masterpiece by Ms. N. Yunupingu, painted the year before her death, is titled Ganyu, which means “stars.” It is a vision of the sky where stars dangle like spiky, tropical fruit. Each star resembles a spider or a mollusc, with appendages thrusting out in all directions. She employs an earth-toned palette of dark natural pigments, producing a sky that isn’t black or blue but various shades of earth. 

This rare and beautiful painting was the last work ever created by Ms. Yunupingu and is hugely important in terms of her legacy and history. This painting really encapsulates the otherworldly, rhythmic beauty of Ms. Yunupingu’s brushstroke in the development of her practice.

What is really interesting in this piece, is the innovation of her practice that it demonstrates. It is an important work from the artist’s oeuvre, created in her typical style of fusing the contemporary with tradition - the ganyu (stars) which recur as a symbol of her universe, are painted in natural earth pigments from her country land contrasting beautifully with the modern repurposed wood from walls of the art centre which complied with the elders direction to ‘use the land’ under the expanded definition to include recycled materials not just naturally occurring ones. The stunning hues of the earth pigments - pink and yellow toned gapan (Kaolin clay) - come from a particular cliff situated at Gärriri that is only accessible at low tide.