Wandjina
Alec MINGELMANGANU: artist
Alec Mingelmanganu painted his first Wandjina image on bark during the wet season of 1974-75. It was initially discarded but then entered in the 1975 Derby Boab Art show as 'Aural Gothic' In mid 1979, Mingelmanganu padicipated in a one-day art-and-craft workshop at Kalumburu; at around the same time he went on a field trip to the Lawley River where he saw depictions of the Wandjina with high-pointed shoulders. A major one-person show was held at Aboriginal Traditional Arts, Perth, in September 1980. It consisted almost entirely of images of Wandjina with exaggeratedly pointed shoulders curving upwards from the neck. This feature of Mingelmanganu's iconography was also adopted by Woonambal artists such as Lily Karedada.
Acknowledgments to Ryan, Judith, with Akerman, Kim 'Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley', exhibition catalogue (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1993) p.17.
Acknowledgments to Ryan, Judith, with Akerman, Kim 'Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley', exhibition catalogue (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1993) p.17.
Title
Wandjina
Artist/Maker and role
Alec MINGELMANGANU: artist
Date
c 1972-c 1974
Medium
ochre on bark
Measurements
140.0 x 58.0 x 6.0 cm
Credit line
Purchased 1975
© Alec Mingelmanganu, c 1972-c 1974
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
1975/0XP1