We're back from holidays and preparing to hang WERRKNO II on the walls of Laundry Gallery for our first show of 2025. Featuring 33 original works on paper by senior women artists from Maningrida Arts & Culture this show is a follow up to WERRKNO I, our first sold-out show with the ladies back in 2022. 

 

WERRKNO II was created during late November on Kunibídji country on the northern coast of Arnhem Land. Storm clouds rumbled across the landscape, mangos hung ripe and heavy from the trees and the first rains provided temporary relief from the humidity. Country provided an endless source of earth pigment to grind, young leaves and broken twigs to use as painting tools, and charcoal from the fire to create a rich black paint. The artists came together to explore new techniques as part of a one-week workshop, visualising the skin of Namorrorddo, the shooting star spirit that emits rays of white light from their heads and are malevolent in nature, and the eggs of the Djomi, a freshwater fertility spirit with a fish tail, alongside depictions of yams, dillybags, bush medicine plants and fish traps.