Dreamtime story of the willy willy
1989
- Medium
- earth pigments and natural binder on canvas
- Measurements
- 160.1 × 200.1 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Warmun, Western Australia
- Accession Number
- O.1-1990
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1990
© Rover Thomas/Copyright Agency, Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation - Gallery location
- Gallery 3
Ground Level, NGV Australia - About this work
-
This painting shows the ancestral path of miowin, a willy willy or spiralling dust storm, indicated by the swirling red-ochre design unleashed on the matt, white surface of the land and rising into the sky. The storm began as a murmur, in the upper right, and kept increasing in size and velocity as it moved through Jaru Country until it reached badangu ngapa (the main waterhole), shown enclosed by the spiral. Here the willy willy was consumed by Garagi, the Rainbow Serpent, who is associated with storms in the Kimberley region.