Exhibition Insight... Djarrami (glass, mirror)

Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra, 2021, Yukuwa Gilatj, blown and sandblasted glass, 6 x 330 x 362 mm. Photographer: Sam Roberts

Djarrami (glass, mirror)

Words by Caitlin Eyre.

In Djarrami (glass, mirror), Dhalwaŋu artist Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra presents her monochromatic ṉuwayak (bark paintings) and ḻarrakitj (ceremonial hollow poles) alongside a series of new glass works that have been crafted in conjunction with JamFactory’s Glass studio. Inspired by her celebrated bark paintings, the creation of the new glass works has given Wunuŋmurra a new means of exploring pattern and form in an
experimental way.

Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra, (details), 2021, earth pigments on Stringybark. Image courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Incorporated. — Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra, *(details),* 2021, earth pigments on Stringybark. Image courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Incorporated.

Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra is a Dhalwaŋu artist from Gäṉgän, a small inland community three hours from Yirrkala in the East Arnhem Region of the Northern Territory. A respected painter and printmaker, Wunuŋmurra comes from a renowned family of artists that include both her father, Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra (1932—2003) and brother, Nawurapu Wunuŋmurra. The trio are known for their ṉuwayak (bark paintings) that depict traditional sacred stories of the Dhalwaŋu and Yirritja people.

Wunuŋmurra is renowned for her precise line work, innovative composition and geometric style, with her barks and memorial poles often featuring intricate patterns in monochrome colours using the traditional medium of ochre. In the creation of her ṉuwayak, Wunuŋmurra carves and incises patterns into the surface of the bark before painting the patterns with ochre. Across her artistic practice, Wunuŋmurra often depicts her Yukuwa (yam) songline, which relates to the Yirritja renewal ceremony by symbolising the cycle of renewal of both the people and the land, and Buyku, the tapestry of the fish trap, which symbolises the coming together of the people. The diamond and cross-hatching patterns of the Bukyu works refer to the waters around Gäṉgän, the ancestral lands of the Dhalwaŋu people, and are also a visual representation of the structure of fish traps made with wooden stakes.

In this exhibition, Wunuŋmurra presents a selection of her ṉuwayak wall pieces alongside a new series of glass works that were created with the assistance of JamFactory’s Glass Studio and trace the material evolution of her work. Through reinterpreting and translating her painted works into glass, Wunuŋmurra has been able to explore and experiment with different materials, processes and forms while maintaining a strong connection to culture and the integral stories that inform her practice.