ABORIGINAL DESERT ART  GALLERY

MARY DIXON NUNGURRAYI

Born near Town Bore Creek, east of Papunya in the year the settlement was officially opened - 1960 - Mary Dixon identifies Warlpiri as her language group but nominates the area around Haasts Bluff where she grew up as her country.

She moved to Mt Leibig settlement when it was established, closer to Warlpiri country. She and her husband Colin Dixon, have four children. The artist Maudie PETERSEN is her sister. Mary started painting in the mid 80's when Papunya Tula Artists began making regular trips to Mt Leibig to service the artists living there.

Mary often paints Witchetty Grub Dreaming and a Milky Way Dreaming concerning the origins of Venus, Orion and the Pleieades. Her work included in exhibitions mounted by the Centre for Aboriginal Artists at the Gauguin Museum, Tahiti in 1988 at the Champman Gallery for which Mary travelled to Canberra. She has been included in a number of publications based primarily on the work of the painters operating through the Centre for Aboriginal Artists.

Collections:

Art Gallery of South Australia,
Holmes`a Court,
Michael Hollow Collection
Wollongong City Art Gallery.

The Milky Way, with all its soft glowing stars and dark starless patches, is a place with many landmarks for the Aboriginal people.

The stars and the night sky are used as ceremonial time pieces and also to as a compass to guide their way while on walkabout, living in harmony with the seasons.

This is the story of the Seven Sisters. They were the mythological sisters of the "Tjukurrpa" ( DREAMING ). Today they can still be seen wandering across the skies at night as the constellation Pleiades.

The Seven Sisters are being pursued by a Jakamarra man (the Morning Star in Orion's belt). In this picture the seven sisters are depicted as the small circular groups of stars and Jakamarra was once a man who chased the sisters relentlessly, always seeking their favours.

In a final attempt to escape Jakamarra, the women turn into fire at Kurlunyalimpa and ascend to the heavens to become stars.

To this day when you look to the sky, Jakamarra is still in pursuit of the sisters. This Dreaming is closely associated with men's secret sacred ceremonies.

The white dotting through the centre in this painting shows us the Milky Way. The Milky Way was created when a Nakamarra woman squeezed her breasts and the milk squirted across the sky.

The songlines of the "Milky Way Dreaming" have travelled from the far northern reaches of Arnhem Land down across the continent, through Central Australia and beyond. Due to the secret and sacred aspect of this Dreaming, no further information may be obtained.