Mandy Martin

ARTIST

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

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Mangkaja Residency 2010 Part 1

 

Mangkaja Residency 2010 Part 2
 

 

Painting Country with artists from the Fitzroy River Valley 2007-9

 

In 2007 I was staying with the owners of Fossil Downs Station, Annette and John Henwood and the art coordinator of Mangkaja Arts Centre, in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, at that time, Mandy McGuire suggested I take Kumanjayi Cherel out there to see his country, Gooniyandi Country. Kumanjayi and I spent the day painting at a place called Painted Rocks.  We both painted a triptych in natural pigments and found ochre ruddle.

 

In 2008, Basil Hall, from Basil Hall Editions in Darwin, and I flew down to Fitzroy Crossing from Darwin to work on a print folio concept that arose from the paintings Kumanjayi and I had painted together  in 2007. I worked with Kumanjayi to make positive transparencies of our paintings on ultraphan. I had made mine the week before in my studio in New South Wales and had reduced my colours to 3 in fitting with Kumanjayi’s colours, so in all we needed to make 9 ultraphans each. Basil took those back to his workshop in Darwin and transferred them photographically to etching plates and has now printed them in the colours used in the original paintings. The triptych etchings are currently on view at Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London in an exhibition titled; “Basil Hall. Etched in the Sun”

 

http://www.r-h-g.co.uk/exhibitions/view/basil_hall_etched_in_the_sun

 

The exhibition will tour to venues in the USA.

 

Basil and I also made arrangements to take the next 3 generations of Cherels out to Painted Rocks to make prints of the rock paintings there for the folio. We took along Isaac, in his 70’s, Katrina, 25, Rohanna, 12. They all came over from Muludja community, which is on the opposite bank of the Margaret River to Fossil Downs, arriving for the legendary Fossil Downs smoko. Isaac, was also born at Fossil Downs and worked there most of his working life. John Henwood greeted them warmly and decided to join us for the day painting much to my pleasure. He regards himself as a custodian of the site and signed his painting that day with his skin name shared with Mervyn Street.

 

There was much discussion about the possible meaning of the rock paintings and we all lingered at the site much longer than we had intended, which meant driving back in the dark and cold.  Katrina said it was really good there and there was much more rock art there than she had expected. I felt happy that so many view points will be represented in this folio. It will be a bound folio called “Imanara” which is what the Gooniyandi call this country. The folio will be launched with the Painting Fitzroy River Valley exhibition.

 

In June 2009 I returned to work on a more comprehensive Painting Fitzroy River Valley project with Mangkaja Arts Centre artists and in all worked at 4 communities with 15 artists.  I painted in country with artists from Muludja, Fitzroy Crossing, Bayulu and Looma. All the artists I worked with expressed a desire to visit and paint other country as well, next year.

 

The project thus evolved over 3 years will be exhibited with short documentary films made by Laura Boynes. They were filmed in part as a Mangkaja Arts Centre resource but also for the artists themselves as a record of their country.

 

Updates to the exhibition will be posted soon.

 

 

 

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Mangkaja Residency 2010 Part 1

Mandy Martin, Mangkaja Residency, June 2010

 

This is the fourth year I have painted Gooniyandi Country with artists from Muludja and particularly the Cherel family. Everyone seemed to want to come, we had 13 people painting in all, excluding Henry Surprise who took photos for me, and I arrived early after the short drive over the Fitzroy River from Fossil Downs to pick people up. June Davis and Mervyn Street brought their own 4WD, with Travis Leonard driving and Rohnanna Cherel, Jai Cherel, Henry Surprise, Fabian Davis, Tessie Cherabun, Bronwyn Malo and Jane and Ann Halloway all climbing in as well. I took Isaac, Edna and Katrina Cherel along with me for the 2 ½ hour drive out to Painted Rocks on Fossil Downs. We met up with the group of visitors who had been at Fossil Downs Station owner, John Henwood’s 70th birthday in Broome, for smoko and demolished a few slabs of John’s birthday cake made in the shape of a grader and with thick yellow and black icing. The reunion was emotional, Merrilee MacDonald, Fossil Downs descendent, is a fluent Gooniyandi/ Giya speaker. Henry Surprise and Mervyn Street were also pleased to see their old Fossil Downs stockman friends, Bill O’ Dougherty and Peter Gray.

 

Some of the younger people hadn’t visited Painted Rocks or as Gooniyandi Cherel, named them, Imanara, and spent a long time exploring the site.

The men were very excited to point out the holes where in the old days, they stored their bush tucker to keep it cool and away from predators.

 

 

The rock art is ancient and most significant and it was moving to hear a group of people at the site all talking in their own tongue with great respect and excitement.

 

 

 

After exploring the rock paintings and rock markings, we moved back a kilometre or so to a site Mervyn had chosen as we had approached earlier in the morning, everyone set up and painted for some hours except Henry Surprise who took photos for us.

 

 

Mandy Martin and Muludja Artists at Painted Rocks

 

 

Isaac Cherel painting Country story with Muludja artists, Painted Rocks

 

Mervyn Street and grandson, Jai Cherel, painting Painted Rocks

 

 

At the end of the afternoon we all went fishing at a nearby spring and the women pulled in perch and bream with out effort it seemed, then cooked them immediately.

 

Jai and Rohanna Cherel with bream, Soda Springs, Fossil Downson small fires

 

 

The dying hours of the day were spent trying to change a flat tyre, a long and difficult job requiring some real bush skills, we all got home a few hours later than planned. Issac Cherel was just able to show us the red sand, the only for many kilometres around, where the Rainbow Serpent had gone into the ground, before darkness fell.

 

Rainbow Serpent site, Fossil Downs

 

 

 

Mangkaja Residency 2010 Part 2
 

 

Mandy Martin, Mangkaja Arts Residency, Fitzroy Crossing, June 2010

 

This brief residency with artists at the Mangkaja Arts Centre was to consolidate and expand painting in Country with the artists who last year spoke to me about wanting to follow through ideas with me which had grown out of the very successful exhibition at Australian Galleries, Melbourne, November- December 2009.  The full colour catalogue, DVD film and the exhibition had pleased them all and it was important to follow up both from my point of view and from that of the artists. We were all really happy to be able to work together. They all without exception chose the trips into Country as a way of passing on knowledge about Country to their family and me.

I focussed on 3 outstanding artists, Daisy Andrews, John Prince Siddon and Mervyn Street who have all made a quantum leap in their painting since I last worked with them. Along the way I worked with quite a few other artists including Jack Macale, Daisy Andrews son, and 13 artists from Muludja community.

 

Site 1: Brooklyn Springs, Knununberri

 

We had two trips to this well known site which Daisy identified as Big Waluk, meaning trees and rock, on the Leopold Road near Daisy Andrew’s husband’s country, Jandamarra. Daisy used to camp here with her husband and everyone met here for ceremonies.

 

 

 

Daisy’s nephew, John Prince Siddon came with us the first trip

 

 

Daisy’s close kin, Jack Macale a Jandamarra man, came the second time. He is an art award winning artist and cultural guide for his home community, Biridu and he said they bring visitors here first for the smoking ceremony.

 

 

The school bus, driven by another of Daisy’s close kin, stopped on the way home from Fitzroy Crossing to Biridu and collected Jack Macale, (back left) and Daisy asked me to photograph her with her family.

 

 

The kids all were intrigued with my painting kit!

 

 

My final day at Mangkaja I found time to work with John Nargoodah and family on the back verandah at Mangkaja this year because of John’s other work commitments. His daughter, showed great talent in her first even canvas!