“Miniyerri Country Sugarbag Dreaming”

Artist: BARNEY ELLAGA

Cat#: PGKA002

Size: 203×123

Medium: Painting

Barney originates from Mambali country south of the Roper River which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria. This is the also the country of the famous Ginger Riley and his nephew Danny Riley who took up painting after his uncle died. Barney’s style contrasts dramatically with Ginger’s and Danny’s as it is generally abstract in form using striations and stippling with bright and contrasting colour. This form is reminiscent of the scales on snake skin (one of his totems is the King Brown Snake).
He lives south at Miniyerri (Hodgson Downs NT) which is the subject of this spectacular Dreaming painting. The stripes represent the creative Dreaming energies in the country contrasting with the cool turquoise of the central waterhole motif. These forms also represent “Sugar Bag” which are the native bees travelling across the country to the waterhole.

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