Garawan Wanambi is part of the Marrakulu clan of the Dhuwa moiety, living on his wife's country, Gangan, in North East Arnhem Land. Guest is a selection of recent works by Garawan that further explore his relationship to his grandmother’s country Raymangirr.
His connection to this place is through kinship, and although he resides elsewhere, he retains knowledge of Raymangirr's patterns. The designs represents a place in the river mouth near Raymangirr, where freshwater springs bubble up beneath the saltwater. They represent the different characteristics of the waters moving from anger and turbulence to the calm of resolution, bathed in the warmth of the sun’s rays.
Garawan's bark painting and larrakitj push the boundaries of patternation and repetition, luring the viewer into a labyrinth of geometric constructs. Gently and slowly orderly rythym gives way to Escher-esque non-Ecludian spaces of hypnotic intensity.
To preview works in the exhibition click here
Garawan Wanambi was born in North East Arnhem Land in 1963. In 2014 Garawan was awarded Best Bark at the annual Telstra National Indigenous and Torres Straight Islander Awards and has previously exhibited in David Elliott's THE BEAUTY OF DISTANCE: SONGS OF SURVIVAL IN A PRECARIOUS AGE, 17th Biennale of Sydney. Recent exhibitions include Garawan, Milani Gallery, Brisbane; Annandale Galleries, Sydney Contemporary and the Kate Challis RAKA Award, University of Melbourne. His work is represented in the collections of Kerry Stokes AC, Richard & Harriet England, Ian & Anne Maclean and the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin.