Kurlkurta Tjukurpa

Name: Kurlkurta Tjukurpa
Brand: Mary Gibson
SKU: TJ21-950KA
Price: 2750.00 AUD
Availability: InStock

$2,750 AUD

Artist:

Mary Gibson

Size:

91.4cm x 121.9cm

Medium:

Acrylic on Canvas

This painting depicts Mary's Country, at a sacred site known as the home of the Tingarri beings.

Mary was born bush way at Kurluwarri, west of this sacred site, but this place is Mary's country, her home. It is where as a child she lived in the bush with her family, walking huge distances across the desert.

Mary's in-depth knowledge of the sand hills, clay pans and rock holes of her country are represented with bold lines and detailed dot work in her traditional style paintings.

Mary steadily works her away across the canvas, repeating motifs that are part of a visual language unique to the Western Desert, to allow for a continuation of traditional forms and stories.

"All the ladies, kungka pirni, all the young ladies. Sitting down, making kampurrampa (bush berries), wangurnu (grain), and eating lots of bush foods. Sitting next to those rockholes. You been see."

"Ngayulu palyanyi tali, puli, munu kapi kulupa kutjarra." I paint the sandhills, hills, rocks and the two little rockholes there, not big ones, little ones.

Artists Biography

Mary Gibson was born around 1950, bush way, at a site called Kuluwarri, deep in the Western Desert. As a child and teenager she lived at Kurlkurta, east of Kuluwarri and north-west of Tjukurla, with her large family: her father, four mothers, three brothers and five sisters.

She recalls that there was always so much to hunt and eat: tjala (honey ants), tinka (goanna), kampurampa (bush berries), kipara (bush turkey), nyaiia (wild cat), mangarta (quandong) and wangurnu (grain for bread).

In her late teenage years, Mary and her family walked to Papunya after hearing that many people had moved there. Two of her brothers remained behind at Kulkurta. In Papunya, Mary met and married her first husband, Mr Gibson. Together they had one daughter, Roma, and two sons, Bob Gibson and Roger Gibson.

With three young children, the family later returned to Kulkurta. Mary recalls many years travelling across the Western Desert, including regular trips to Tjarlirli Rockhole long before Tjukurla community was established. She also travelled to Kayilli (Patjarr) and later to Port Hedland, where her husband sadly passed away during a family holiday.

Mary moved to Tjukurla when it was first established as an outstation from Docker River in 1989 and remembers the early building of what is now the Tjukurla community. She was among the first artists to paint at Tjarlirli Art when the art centre opened in 2006.

Today, Mary spends her time between Tjukurla and Docker River, remaining a central figure in both studios. She is an important cultural authority with an exceptional depth of knowledge of the Country she has travelled and lived on all her life.

“I paint the sandhills, hills, rocks and the two little rockholes there, not big ones, little ones.” — Mary Gibson

She remains a fierce hunter – always the first out of the car on any bush trip, collecting bush foods or digging for tinka in their burrows.

Purchasing your artwork

We have taken great care to ensure that the details, descriptions and prices quoted are correct at the time of publishing.

We have made every effort to render as accurately as possible the colour and design of the products that appear on the website. However, as the actual colours you see will depend on your personal computer equipment, we cannot guarantee that your monitor's display of any colour will accurately reflect the colour of the merchandise on delivery.

Please note that to ensure the safety of your painting, as well as minimizing postage costs, all paintings are dispatched unstretched and rolled. This means that it will require stretching over a frame, prior to being hung. Whilst you can do this yourself, we recommend that a professional framer is used, to ensure that the painting is not damaged.

If this does not suit your requirements, and you wish to purchase a painting pre-stretched, please contact us, nichola@aboriginalcontemporary.com.au to discuss alternative options and prices.

We appreciate that at any price, each painting is an investment and we are happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Certificates of Authenticity

Every artwork comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, issued by the art centre, which includes details of both the artist and the artwork. Different art centres’ certificates look different, however they will all have the following information:

Artist name
Information about the artist, such as language group, place of birth, skin name
Picture of the artwork and in some cases the artist
Title of the artwork
Size of the artwork – make sure it matches the actual artwork
Story – This will vary in length and detail from art centre to art centre and from artist to artist
Catalogue number - this is an important code that links the artwork back to the artist, art centre and the date it was produced

Shipping & Delivery

Dispatch
We aim to process all orders on the next working day after payment has cleared. You will receive an email confirmation with tracking details after dispatch.

Domestic Orders
Most parcels are sent via Australia Post e-parcel, allowing us to track your orders from placement to delivery. Paintings are normally dispatched unstretched and rolled in a postal tube. Please advise if you would like otherwise.

International Orders
Most international orders are shipped with Australia Post’s e-parcel at a flat rate of $44.50. Paintings are normally dispatched unstretched and rolled in a postal tube. Please advise if you would like otherwise. Certain items, such as large or delicate pieces may require a custom solution. If a shipping cost does not appear at checkout, we will contact you with a quotation, prior to the item being dispatched.

Delivery Times
For standard parcels within Australia, please allow 2-5 working days – larger items may take longer. For international parcels, please allow 11-14 working days, depending on the destination. All orders require a signature upon receipt. Unfortunately, we are unable to redirect orders once items have been dispatched.

Damaged Items
Please check your delivery as soon as possible and advise us of any issues.

By appointment viewings

Although we no longer have a bricks-and-mortar gallery, the artworks on this website can be viewed by appointment in Bronte, Sydney. Contact Nichola on 0450929183 or nichola@aboriginalcontemporary.com.au with the pieces you are interested in to arrange a suitable time.

View more by this artist

About Aboriginal Contemporary

Aboriginal Contemporary has an enviable reputation for quality, service and ethical trading; not just with our customers but with the art centres from whom we source our work.

This is in no small part due to owner Nichola Dare’s regular trips to some of the most remote parts of Australia and her ability to build relationships with art centres and artists, based on mutual trust and respect. Nichola’s time in Australia’s Western Desert, The Kimberley, APY Lands and Arnhem Land has also given her a deep understanding of the country and culture at the heart of the art we sell.

Kurlkurta Tjukurpa

Kurlkurta Tjukurpa

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