John Mawurndjul (b. 1952) is a Kuningkju man who lives near Maningrida, home to one of the Northern Territory's oldest art centres. He is celebrated for his innovation and mastery of rarrk – a complex, yet delicate array of crosshatching drawn from the geometric body designs associated with the Mardayin ceremony. Painted using a mixture of ochre, water and glue with a brush made from fine long hairs, rarrk reflects the scared power of ancestral beings.
R Ian Lloyd took this photograph of Mawurndjul the day before the artist flew to Paris to work on a commission for the Musée du Quai Branly in 2005. The work was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in 2007 as part of a series of portraits in which Lloyd sought to highlight his artist-subjects' working environment, to invite reflection on how space affects and inspires individual creativity.
Gift of R Ian Lloyd 2010. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
© R Ian Lloyd/Copyright Agency, 2023
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