Untitled (Crab, Lizard and Mangrove Seed)
Artist
Susan Wanji Wanji
(1955)
Date1991
Object number00027874
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour paint, board
DimensionsImage: 447 × 633 mm
Sheet: 565 × 759 mm
Overall: 565 × 759 × 1 mm, 0.15 kg
Display dimensions: 566 × 758 mm
Mount / Matt size (F Fini Mount): 810 × 1010 mm
Sheet: 565 × 759 mm
Overall: 565 × 759 × 1 mm, 0.15 kg
Display dimensions: 566 × 758 mm
Mount / Matt size (F Fini Mount): 810 × 1010 mm
Copyright© Susan Wanji Wanji
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionAn untitled painting by Susan Wanji Wanji depicting a crab, lizard, and mangrove seed.
Mother's Country: Navy Landing, Liverpool River, NT
Father's Country: Flying Fox Creek, Arnhem Land, NT
Skin Group: Pandanus
Dreaming: Mantupunga (Tuna Fish)
HistoryMelville Island lies off the north coast of Australia, about l00 kilometers from Darwin.
Melville, with Bathurst Island, is home to an Indigenous group of people called the Tiwi (meaning 'we people'). As a result of the isolation of Tiwi people, their culture has developed independently from others on the mainland. This is reflected in their art which is bold, colourful and highly abstract, the Tiwi exemplify the adherence artists have to
their particular dreaming or style of cultural expression. The artwork being produced on the Island incorporates the traditional symbolic designs of the burial poles, body designs and bark bags as well as showing the bush foods found on the island.
Melville Island is the second largest Island on Australia's coast. Its coast is fringed with dense mangrove forest hosting a feast of bush foods. Although many modern ways have been adapted, life on their two islands follows traditional ways. Men still hunt for bush foods - turtles, stingrays, wild cattle and fish, while women huntpossums, and collect crabs, shell fish and berries.SignificanceThe beaches and mangrove swamps on Melville Island are rich and important feeding grounds for marine life. This work by Susan Wanji Wanji highlights the importance the sea has for the Tiwi people as a traditional subject matter and how her own art has developed a unique style that has influence from both Tiwi and Arnhem Land cultures.
