QUEENIE MCKENZIE - JOOGOOROO
QUEENIE MCKENZIE
JOOGOOROO, 1997
60 x 80cm
ochre, clay and charcoal on linen
REGION
Halls Creek, WA
PROVENANCE
Narrangunny Art Traders, WA
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
STORY
Queenie McKenzie (formerly Oakes), or Mingmarriya, was born on old Texas Downs on the Ord River in the rugged East Kimberley. She lived there all her life until the respected manager, with whom a close knit group of Aboriginal people ran the cattle station for many years, retired. The 'Texas Downs mob' then all moved to the Warmun Community at Turkey Creek, which was located on an adjacent property. Queenie was therefore focused on a locality from which she never moved, a landscape that she knew intimately: 'Every rock, every hill, every water, I know that place backwards and forwards, up and down, inside out. It's my country and I got names for every place.' It was this singularly close relationship with her country, that prompted Queenie to take up painting, but not until she had already led a full and energetic life.
EXHIBITED
Inspired: Collectors Edition, April 2023, Cooee Art | Redfern
ARTIST PROFILE
