Gurrundul Martwili, Lulumu, 2022. Earth pigments on stringy bark, 81.5 x 61 cm. Courtesy: the artist, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, and Everywhen Art, Shoreham.

Having shown Gurrundul Marawili‘s work since 2010, Everywhen Art now presents her first solo exhibition.

Marawili is something of a quiet achiever amidst the plethora of world-famous artists of the Yolngu art centre Buku-Larrnggay Mulka with whom she paints. A daughter of the famous late artist Mrs M. Wirrpanda, sister of community and cultural leader, Djambawa Marawili and wife of artist Wanyupi Marika, Marawili has been painting for some 16 years. She first exhibited with her sister Yalmakany Marawili in a small, successful show at Annandale Galleries in 2008, followed by an equally successful exhibition at the same gallery in 2010. Since, she has shown in group exhibitions at a handful of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka’s representative galleries.

However, of equal import is Marawili’s work as an ecologist and ranger with the Yirralka Rangers. This important work fully often preoccupies her for long stretches, thus interrupting her painting career. At the same time this strong and direct connection to Country continues to inform her art practice. From 2009, Marawili and her sister Yalamakany also worked closely with their mother to record, in art and detailed descriptions, the significant plants of their Blue Mud Bay country. Mrs Wirrpanda had been deeply concerned that the knowledge of the plants and their cultural significance may be lost with her passing and had ignited a similar passion in her daughters.

Marawili’s main subject is Lulumu, the ancestral creation stingray figure, and the stingray’s sites near her large homeland settlement of Yilpara at Blue Mud Bay. These stories she depicts in soft hues, flowing lines and intricate detail.

Opening Event: Saturday 9 March, 2 – 4pm, including curators introduction and opening drinks.

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