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Rusty Peters
Yariny Daam (Moon Dreaming Country)

2015

$4,610.27
£3,360
€3,957.48
CA$6,341.66
A$7,065.55
CHF 3,726.39
MX$85,658.33
NOK 47,405.09
SEK 44,160.84
DKK 29,558.74

About the Item

Rusty Peters (1935-2020) was a senior Gija man, born in Darrajayin (Springvale Station), Western Australia. Peters grew up learning traditional Gija law and worked as a stockman on Springvale station. After the death of his father, he moved to Mabel Downs where he worked as a horse breaker. In 1968, following the introduction of award wages for Indigenous people working on pastoral property, Peters was forced to move off Mabel Downs station and began living at Nine Mile reserve, 130 miles from Warmun/Turkey Creek. Prior to the introduction of these wages, Indigenous workers were only paid in rations. He started working at Warmun Art Centre in 2010, twelve years after the art centre opened, and continued to do so until his passing in 2020. One of the main Ngarranggarni of Warmun artists is Garnkiny Ngarranggarni, often painted in Mabel Juli’s (Peters’ sister by kinship) symbolic Moon and Stars paintings. In Yariny Daam (Moon Dreaming Country), Peters paints part of the story of Garnkiny (Moon) Ngarranggarni, in a one point-perspective depiction of the landscape of his Country. While using geographical features to tell the story, the earth becomes symbolic of Ngarranggarni. In this image, Peters paints a clouded grey sky, above an open brown landscape with hills of varying elevation. The hills in the background refer to the hill that Garnkiny climbed when he was angry at his community and transformed into the moon. The moon is not present, which alludes to the days when Garnkiny rests. At the base of the image, we see mawoondool (white clay) dot work in eleven circle formations. These suggest the ancestral power of the landscape. The white dot work contrasts with the muted tones of Yariny Daam (Moon Dreaming Country) and illuminates the landscape, like constellations in the night sky. There is almost a spiritual presence in this image from the white dots, alluding to the mob that stood below the hill, watching Garnkiny as he turned into the moon while he rejoiced at the thought of their bones turning white in the sand as they die. The story and painting also have a social application. Garnkiny’s desires lead to his shameful exile, while the retelling of the story tells of social mores; how to behave and how not to. The Garnkiny Ngarranggarni is more than a story, it expands on the principles of Gija law and reflects on the human experience, social structures, and the natural world. It has layered meanings “of kinship and the orderly management of marriage in society, human mortality the power of illicit sexual desire and the ecological and personal relationships of the Gija with their land still resonates with the people today” (Warmun Art Centre, 2014). There’s this tension between a very old story, painted in the landscape as it stands now, resisting the passing of time. The white dots are an abstraction of people who once stood there; it’s almost as if Peters is looking at the landscape as it is now, on a cloudy night, and remembering the story.
  • Creator:
    Rusty Peters (1935 - 2020, Aboriginal Australian)
  • Creation Year:
    2015
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 39.38 in (100 cm)Width: 39.38 in (100 cm)Depth: 2.37 in (6 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 24921stDibs: LU1868215089852

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