The artist has painted Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent. Ngalyod is regarded as a most important ancestor spirit in West Arnhem Land and appears in various manifestations in Kunwinjku mythology. In the Dreamtime she assumed a range of animal forms including snake, kangaroo and crocodile and at times transformed herself from one to the other, or into a combination of each. It is believed that as a serpent she tunnels underground using barbed extensions from her head and the bony protuberance from her neck as aids. It is believed that Ngalyod dwells in various billabongs in Arnhem Land today, sometimes swallowing bininj (the Kunwinjku term for Aboriginal people) as punishment when they break traditional laws.
Ngalyod is painted by many Kunwinjku artists, according to each artist’s own imagination and mythological background. She is often depicted with the leaves of the mandem (water lily) protruding from her back. The hatching technique used for the in-fill of the body is called rarrk.

Size 115 x 31 cm | Medium Bark | Catalogue # 6975-18 | Year 2018

Artist  Timothy Nabegeyo

“I am Tim Nabegeyo. My skin is Bulanj and my clan is Djalama. My country is Mandilbareng Outstation. I did my first painting with my father sitting beside him watching him doing his painting at Mandilbareng. There I sat with him teaching me how to paint. He started painting and I started learning little by little. He taught me how to do rarrk, the fine cross- hatching. Inside rock caves I saw paintings of kangaroos. My father told me to paint Yirridjda style.” 

Timothy Nabegeyo is the son of Robyn and Mukguddu Nabegeyo. Timothy is the father of Anniessa Nabegeyo

further details

Size 115 x 31 cm
Medium  Bark
Catalogue # 6975-18
Year 2018