DETAIL : Jimmy BAKER 'Katatjita' 2006 synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Courtesy of Marshall Arts Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery, � Jimmy Baker
Arthur Koo'ekka PAMBEGAN JNR | Flying fox (Red Back)

 
PAMBEGAN JNR, Arthur Koo'ekka
Australia 1936
Flying fox (Red Back) 2007
Sculpture
natural earth pigments on wood
overall 177.0 (h) x 179.0 (w) x 30.5 (d) cm
Purchased 2007
NGA 2007.172.A-I
© Arthur Pambegan Jnr, courtesy of Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane.
VIEW: ARTICLE |

Pambegan Jr has been making art for the commercial art market for many years, reaffirming his identity out of the soft milkwood trees that are abundant in the area and perfect for carving. Included in this exhibition are the first canvases that he has ever painted. These diptyches are the body paint designs of the Walkaln-aw and Kalbenused by the Winchanam people. These canvases symbolise the skin of their painted bodies before they go into ceremony. The Flying fox installation illustrates a story relating to Pambegan Jr’s traditional country. The sculpture describes the first stage of initiation, uchanam, and refers to the story of two young initiates who disobeyed the law of the elders. They went hunting flying foxes and killed too many for cooking. So when the initiates were waiting for their meal to cook, the flying foxes returned and took them up into the sky. The two boys turned into flying foxes and never return.