PADDY JAMPIN JAMINJI - SUN MOON & STARS
PADDY JAMPIN JAMINJI
SUN MOON & STARS, 1979
122 x 122cm
natural earth pigments on plywood
PROVENANCE
Warmun, WA
Private Collection Western Australia - Lawson Menzies, Aboriginal Fine Art, May 2005, Lot 54 - Private Collection Spain - Deutscher Menzies Important Australian Paintings, 2009
STORY
Is this the Oldest East Kimberley Painting in Private Hands?The Case For: Given the physical condition of the board and more importantly the content, it is likely to have been created as a ceremonial board for one of the earliest Krill Krill ceremonies devised by Kimberley Master Rover Thomas. All of the earliest ceremonial boards were painted by Roverā€™s classificatory Uncle, Paddy Jaminji. The very particular wear and tear on the surface of the work most especially on the margins would seem to indicate that it was carried on the shoulders during ceremony. The content and the way that it is depicted is consistent with ceremonial designs adopted by men of high cultural authority amongst the Warlpiri, Kukatja and other neighbouring tribes to the Gidja. The way that the boomerangs are placed in this painting is very particular and similar to the way that the boomerangs are laid out during important male ceremonies. The Milky Way is depicted a strongly symbolic ceremonial design. (The long strings, which define the night sky in the painting, are most likely ceremonial objects used in other men's and women's ceremonies)Paddy Jaminji was a leader and teacher vitally concerned with the future of his people and practiced a creole form of ā€�two-way religionā€™. It is impossible not to reflect on the title he gave to this painting. 'Sun Moon and Stars'.
