Worrwurr/Ŋerrk 23-206
‘The Ŋerrk comes from the Yirritja Moiety and is sung of by my Grandmother’s clan and mine from the Gumatj clan, and several other Yirritja clan groups that has links with this totem. We also dance and imitate the Ŋerrk on how it caws and cries, flies and lands during its travels.’
‘The owl totem belongs to the Yirritja Moiety. It also belongs to other clans such as, Wangurri, Dhalwangu etc. & the Golpa clan who sing about owls. The owls’ eyes depict the traditional bush food, called Dingu which comes from the Cycad plant, the nuts are pounded, strained, and made into a dough then wrapped in Paper Bark and baked in a ground oven. Owls are smart and wise, they bring telepathic messages, telling us that something is going to happen, something good or bad in relation to our family. They also tell us if a death has occurred amongst our family.’
Hand cut from soft milkwood and painted with natural ochres sourced locally, Megan Yunupingu's carved sculptures depict the birds of Elcho Island, NT, most notably the Worrwurr (Owl) and Ŋjerrk (Cockatoo).
The traditional knowledge passed down over generations combined with the immense talent and skill involved in all stages of making result in an incredibly unique and powerful collection of new carvings from Megan Yunupingu.
Born in Nhulunbuy, Megan moved to Galiwin'ku in 1998 to live with her Aunty Judy Manany Gurruwiwi. Judy taught her how to paint and passed on important cultural stories. This included how to make Yidaki (didgeridoo) and carve sculptures.
Megan is well recognised Australia wide for her carved timber owl (Worrwurr) sculptures and has now taken on a new art medium where she is now emerging as a natural fibre weaver where she has produced high end mats and earrings. Megan has had the opportunity of having wonderful weavers such as the accomplished weavers Judy Manany Gurruwiwi and Ms. M Ganambarr teaching and inspiring her in the beautiful art of natural fibre weaving. Megan has taken on this knowledge to produce her free experimentation with construction methods, colour and patterns to produce these innovative forms of artwork.
A very exciting emerging artist from Elcho Island Arts, Megan is involved in the cultural tradition of learning how to paint her mother’s totems. Married with three children and four grandchildren, Megan has a very busy life balancing her full-time work commitments as Arts Worker at Elcho Island Arts, while also finding time to concentrate on her professional artistic career.
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