Tears of the Djulpan, 2023, 84 × 46 cm
Djakangu Yunupingu born 1945, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
Yunupingu is a Yolngu elder and distinguished contemporary Australian artist based in Yirrkala in the Northern Territory, whose celestial paintings depict the story of the Djulpan, the story of the Pleiades constellation known as the Seven Sisters.
Working from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, Yunupingu first exhibited her paintings in 2021 at the age of seventy-two, after caring for her late sister Mrs N Yunupiŋu for many years. She had previously participated in printmaking workshops with her sisters when in 2011 they collectively made the renowned, Seven Sisters suite of prints.
Yunupingu paints on bark using earth pigments and gapan (clay) applied with a small brush called a Marwat, which is a small brush made by hand using fine, straight, human hair. She methodically applies the paint onto the surface of the bark using a technique called rarrk (cross-hatching). Through dedicated practice she has honed and refined this technique.
Yunupingu is a Yolngu elder and distinguished contemporary Australian artist based in Yirrkala in the Northern Territory, whose celestial paintings depict the story of the Djulpan, the story of the Pleiades constellation known as the Seven Sisters.
Working from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, Yunupingu first exhibited her paintings in 2021 at the age of seventy-two, after caring for her late sister Mrs N Yunupiŋu for many years. She had previously participated in printmaking workshops with her sisters when in 2011 they collectively made the renowned, Seven Sisters suite of prints.
Yunupingu paints on bark using earth pigments and gapan (clay) applied with a small brush called a Marwat, which is a small brush made by hand using fine, straight, human hair. She methodically applies the paint onto the surface of the bark using a technique called rarrk (cross-hatching). Through dedicated practice she has honed and refined this technique.
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