"Wanalirri" the Rainmaker
2012
Medium
natural Ochre and pigment on bark
Measurements
(71.0 × 40.0 cm)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by the Linda Herd and the Canny Quine Foundation, 2024
© Mercy Paymurrmurra Fredericks/Waringarri Arts
Gallery location
Gallery 2
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
Mercy Fredericks began painting and engraving barks in 2009 and quickly gained recognition for her distinct Wandjina barks and fine textured ochre paintings. Wanalirri (the Wandjina) are ancestral spirits who created Country, people and animals in northwest Kimberley before turning themselves into rock paintings. They are sometimes called ‘lightning men’ or ‘rainmakers’, and every year they replenish waterholes, creeks and rivers during the wet season. For Fredericks, the use of a red pigment in these two works represents blood for the tili (heart) to show that the Wandjina are partly alive.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Kalumburu, Western Australia
Accession Number
2024.986
Department
First Nations Australia