4. Thribala Bafalo (three buffalo)
“We’re always using the bright colours [here at Ngukurr], this one is a bit different. The stories come from my knowledge, my Dad started to teach me and I’ve got it in my head. I saw my Dad doing the skulls, so I said I would do the skulls.” ~ Luke Djalgarrarra
- Acrylic on stringybark
- Dimensions: 131cm x 33cm
- Cat No. 202-24
Dijan stori im budu main nolitj. Main dadi bin larnim mi en mi gadi la main garbada. Ibin luk main dadi dumbat skal en Ibin wandi dum du. Mela oldai dum wek gada kaladwan kala. Mela usim kaladwan kala ya la Nuka. Dijan im difrainwan.
Luke lives with his wife Debbie and his five young children in Ngukurr community, 331 kilometres south-east of Katherine on the Roper Highway. His work depicts stories of country, animals and birds that he has seen out bush.
What makes his work unique is the bright experimental colours and beautifully carved shapes. He loves using metallic paints, as well as leaving exposed wood on his carvings. Luke grew up watching his father work as a sculptor and painter on Goulburn Island.
He was also taught by his uncles on Elcho Island who were also great carvers and painters. Luke started painting his own work when he was just 17 and more recently has been carving sculptures of birds and animals.
Luke has exhibited at the Godinymayin Yidjard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre in 2022, the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2020 and 2021, and at Japingka Gallery in Perth in 2016.
Ngukurr Art Centre sits a stone’s throw from the banks of the Roper River in Ngukurr, South East Arnhem Land. The Art Centre, like the town of Ngukurr, is unique – bringing together people of many different clans and language groups including Ngalakgan, Alawa, Mangarrayi, Ngandi, Marra, Warndarrang, Nunggubuyu, Ritharrngu-Wägilak and Rembarrnga. Together these clans are known as Yugul Mangi.
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