- Installation, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, 2024
- Yallara Bandicoot. From The Red Centre: Man and Beast in the Heart of Australia by H.H Finlayson, 1952. Revised with Valerie Napanangka Marshall, 2014-2018
- Cat. Revised with Julie Nangala Robertson, 2014-2018
- Dromicia Gliriformis - Thick Tailed Dromica by John Gould. Revised with Alma Nungarrayi Granites. 2014-2018
- Common Fox. Revised with Melinda Napurrurla Wilson, 2014-2018
- Australischer Hund - Dingo. Revised with Julie Nangala Robertson. 2022
- Phascolomys Wombat by John Gould. Revised with Selina Napanangka Fisher. 2014-2018
- Phascogale Penicillata - Brush-tailed Phascogale by John Gould. Revised with Hilda Nakamarra Rogers. 2014-2018
- Installation, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, 2024
- Nilee, a Rodent Endemic to Australia. From The Red Centre: Man and Beast in the Heart of Australia by H.H Finlayson, 1952. Revised with Lola Nampijinpa Brown, 2014-2018
- Kooracardie, the Sand Goanna. From The Red Centre: Man and Beast in the Heart of Australia by H.H Finlayson, 1952. Revised with Sarah Napaljarri Sims. 2014-2018
- Installation, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, 2024
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The Kongouro from New Holland by George Stubbs, 1772, copy made in Dafen China, 2019. Revised with Hilda Nakamarra Rogers, 2022
When Joseph Banks returned to England from Cook’s Endeavour expedition, he brought back journals full of information, artists’ sketches, and specimens to document and disseminate his findings of the flora and fauna of the South Pacific region.
He commissioned George Stubbs, the foremost painter of animals in England – a master of lifelike capturing of dogs and horses – to paint what to an English audience was an entirely unfamiliar kangaroo. But as Stubbs had never been to Australia, and never seen a kangaroo, his depiction was based entirely on description, drawings, and the flayed skin of a kangaroo shot by one of the ship’s gamekeepers.
Stubbs’ depiction became the standard representation of the kangaroo until well into the 19th century, despite the fact the animal conjured up in the painting more closely resembles the rodent-like Gerbua than the kangaroo. This reproduction was made in Dafen, China and revised in Yuendumu, Central Australia. - Installation, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, 2024
- Two Dingos. Restricted with Gloria Napangardi Gill. 2014-2018
- With Spur and Bridle Undefiled. Revised with Sabrina Nangala Robertson. 2014-2018
- Mus Longipilis - Long haired Grass Mouse by John Gould. Revised with Nathania Nangala Granites. 2014-2018
- Antechinus Apicalis - Dibbler by John Gould. Revised with Tasha Nampijinpa Collins. 2014-2018
ECOLOGY AND INVASION
After the First Fleet anchored in Botany Bay in 1788, it was not only humans who then went ashore, but also cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, rabbits and poultry. Rats and mice, uninvited guests on the vessels, also found their way onto the new continent. Pessimistic about the new land, which they considered inhospitable, the settlers began trying to establish European-style farms.
A few months later, many of their animals had wandered off into the bush, interfering with an ecosystem that had remained untouched for millions of years. Infected by new diseases, deprived of its natural food and habitat, preyed upon by foreign species, the extraordinarily rich and diverse array of local fauna – much of it considered totemic by the Aboriginal people – quickly dwindled.
In Warlpiri culture, ‘all the animals that exist… Kangaroo, emu, bush turkey, they all have Jukurrpa, and those animals are people’s totems,’ explains Ormay Nangala Gallagher. As representatives of the self and one’s identity, totemic animals continue to be held in high esteem.
In these images the indigenous animals of the land have been marked out internally, while the imported animals have been left as they are and the land around them has been painted and overlayed with a Warlpiri depiction of Country