Lofty Nabardayal Nadjamerrek (1926 - 2009)

POSSUM, 2005

natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on paper

76.0 x 101.0 cm
90.0 x 115.0 cm (frame)

Injalak Arts and Crafts, Gunbalanya, Northern Territory (cat. 1688–05)
Private collection, Melbourne

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Injalak Arts and Crafts, Gunbalanya, which states:

‘In Aboriginal mythology, Ancestral Beings had the power to change between animal and human form. Many of these Beings underwent a final metamorphis, or became djang, incorporating their sacred essence in specific features of the natural landscape, whose formations they created in the course of their dreaming journeys. Djaboyh the possum is depicted here in animal form. Executed in classic Kunwinjku x-ray style, the internal organs and spine as well as external features are shown.’