ABORIGINAL DESERT ART  GALLERY

WILLIAM SANDY

Born 'in the bush' in 1944 in Pitjantjatjara country round Ernabella in S.A. Winkilini, further to the south in SA, is William's country from his father and his grandfather.

Kunapi, far to the south of Papunya out towards Docker River, is his country from his grandmother and mothers side. He paints Dingo, Emu, Woman, Green Bean and other Dreaming stories for his country. He grew up walking around these places - and further north around Hermannsburg, Areyonga and Haasts Bluff. Eventually the family settled at Ernabella, where William attended the mission school. From here William Sandy came to Papunya in 1973 and married Violet Nakamarra, sister of Michael NELSON Jagamarra. They have four children, a boy and three girls, one adopted.

From the time of his arrival in Papunya settlement, William worked for the Papunya Council. From the late '80's, he and his wife have been health workers with the Papunya Medical Service. William has recently stopped other employment to concentrate on his painting. He did his first paintings in 1975, teaching himself after watching the other artists at work. However, it was not until the early '80's that he began painting full-time for Galleries including Papunja Tula Artists grup and the Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery in Alice Springs.

In 1985 he won the NT Art Award. His work was included in the 'Dreamings' show which toured the USA in 1988 - 9, and in the subsequent show of Papunya Tula Artists at the John Weber Gallery in New York.

He had a solo exhibition in 1990 at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, and the Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery Melbourne 1994-95-96-97-98 . Grand Hyatt, Jakarta 1992, London 1993, Sydney 1994-95-96-97-98, , Australian Embassy Washington and New York 1999. William's wife, Violet Nakamarra, has also painted occasionally since the early '80's.

Collections:

Holmes à Court
Broken Hill Art Gallery
Woollongong City Art Gallery,
Michael Hollow Collection,
Donald Kahn Collection USA

This painting represents the artists grandfathers' dreaming and the country he was born in round Armata in S.A.

Winkilini, further to the south in SA, is William's country from his father and his grandfather. Kunapi, far to the south of Papunya out towards Docker River, is his country from his grandmother and mothers side.

In this painting by William Sandy we see the arid desert like area that he inhabits, accentuated by the background that echoes the swirling sands and same vegetation.

The lines in the middle of thepainting represents the Dreaming track associated with the Emu Dreaming at Kunapi, in Nth Western South Australia.

In mythological times, the emu ancestor travelled west from Kunapi to Docker River, and then north to Kintore.

Emus are a symbol between equality for males and females. After laying the eggs, the female leaves the nest, never to return. The male then "rolls" the eggs and sits on them for 54 days straight, without food or water until the large green eggs hatch. He continues his parenting until the chicks are independent. Owing however to the secret and sacred nature of the ceremonies involved no further information is attainable.

Emu, common name for members of a genus of large, flightless birds, of which only one species survives. Except for ostriches, emus are the largest of birds, reaching 1.8 m (6 ft) in height and 59 kg (130 lb) in weight. The wings are rudimentary and hidden beneath dull brown, hair-like body feathers; the naked parts of the head and neck are greyish-blue. Emus inhabit open plains of Australia and are capable of running at considerable speed. Eggs are incubated entirely by the male, which also cares for the chicks.