Owen Yalandja
Yawkyawk 2009
Natural ochre on Kurrajong wood 179.5 x15.5cm
Catalogue:302609
Born in 1960 Yalandja developed his own way of carving and decorating his works, making elegant Yawkyawk (female water spirits) sculptures with intricate decoration, which stand apart from all other Kuninjku sculptures. In the 1990s he experimented with the dot patterning and created the ‘v’ shaped fish scale that is now his trademark.
These extraordinary sculptures of mermaid-like figures with fish tails are carved to the natural shape of the wood and vary in width and height. They depict the tapering body and forked fish tail of the mermaid as a slim and sensual figure or by using a curvilinear tree trunk they can be larger than life size. He selects pieces of wood that best suggest the movement in the fish-like forms and his exquisite decoration has ensured he is recognised as one
Amongst his many exhibitions and inclusions in significant group exhibitions are the 2000 Biennale of Sydney and the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial Culture Warriors undertaken by the National Gallery of Australia in 2007.