Owen Yalandja (born 1960)

YAWK YAWK, 2000

natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong

183.0 cm height

Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory
Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney
Private collection, Sydney acquired from the above in 2000

This work is accompanied by documentation from Maningrida Arts that states in part: ‘Owen is the son of well-known Kininjku sculptor Crusoe Kuningbal (now deceased) and accomplished Kunibiji fibre artist and printmaker Lena Kuriniya….. Owen sculptured mimih figures until his father’s death, when he turned to Yawk Yawk figures which he now concentrates on exclusively. Yawk Yawk can be translated as ‘young female water sprit’, although the word is also used to refer to young women. They are usually depicted as having a fish like tail, akin to European mermaids. The Yawk Yawk is an important creation ancestor for the Kuninijku people.’