The subject of the painting is one of the numerous water birds found in freshwater rivers and billabongs in the artist’s country. They are a major source of food for the Kunwinjku people who live in and around Oenpelli in Arnhem Land. The bird is kebbalhdjurri or spoonbill. The bird feeds in shallow water during both day and night and eats fish, crustations, molluscs and water insects. The water grass shown is part of the habitat in which the bird and its prey lives. The bird has been painted in the classic “x-ray” style with internal organs and backbone shown and the fine rarrk or cross hatching which is one of the hallmarks of Kunwinjku paintings in the rock art tradition.

Every year around Bankerreng and Yekke (the season of the last storms, and the early dry), you can see lots of birds catching fish in the billabongs of Arnhem Land. In the wet season the fish are still young, but as it draws to a close the fish get fat enough to eat and birds flock to feast on them. 

Size 41 x 61 cm | Medium Paper | Catalogue # 1032-22 | Year 2022

Artist  Graham Badari

Graham Badari’s country is Maburrinj, in the rocky escarpment country about 120 kilometres east of Gunbalanya. He draws artistic inspiration from this environment and also paints the Dreamings of his Mother Country, Djurlka, where he spent time as a young man near the outstation of Marmardawerre. He was raised by the renowned artist Djawida Nadjongorle, but like many of the artists at Gunbalanya credits the late Thompson Yulidjirri as his greatest artistic influence. From these senior men, Badari learnt the fluid and dynamic figurative style that defines Kunwinjku painting at Injalak Arts. He began painting sporadically around 1990, but has since become part of a group of dedicated and innovative artists at Gunbalanya. His paintings show the influence of the visual language of their rock-art heritage, while remaining committed to artistic innovation. It is this beguiling balance of tensions, innovation and tradition, ancient and modern, beauty and terror, that energises Badari’s paintings.

further details

Size 41 x 61 cm
Medium  Paper
Catalogue # 1032-22
Year 2022