NYAKUL DAWSON - IRRUNYTJU
NYAKUL DAWSON
IRRUNYTJU, 2004
96 x 89 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
REGION
Irrunytju, Western Australia
PROVENANCE
Irrunytju Arts, WA
Private Collection, NSW
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
STORY
Dawson began painting in 2002, aged in his 60s. The year before, the women of Irrunytju had opened an art centre in the community, called Irrunytju Arts. His wife, Anmanari, had already been painting at the centre for several months, and Dawson joined her along with several of the community's other senior men. Dawson's first wife, Alkawari, also became a successful artist at Irrunytju.
Dawson's paintings depict creation stories from the Dreamtime and concepts from his spirituality. They illustrate his family's Dreaming and how their ancestors created the land. His birthplace is on the Dreaming track (or "songline") of the Wati Ngiṉṯaka (Goanna Man), the path travelled by one of his ancestors from the Dreamtime whose totem is the perentie lizard. The scenes in his paintings are from the places he travelled as a boy with his family in the central Australian desert.
Dawson was a member of the Executive Committee of Desart for several years until November 2006. In June 2006, he travelled to Paris for the opening of the Musée du quai Branly. He was there with the Australia Council for the Arts as a representative for Aboriginal Australian art.
ARTIST PROFILE
