Envelope & Card 5 Set - 13.5x9cm -DYM975

FAMILY AND COUNTRY
This painting is a detailed depiction of a dry season in Damien’s homeland, Mount Liebig. It illustrates aspects of the landscape and culture as told to Damien by his great-grandmother and great-grandfather.

Women sit with their children collecting bush potatoes, represented by the cluster of red shapes at the bottom of the painting. They are talking and preparing for Inma. One man, a Wati, sits with his Waru and walks around making controlled bushfires. These burnings are undertaken carefully so that the spinifex clears, allowing good fruits to grow afterward.

The painting contains several symbolic elements. The small sun-like symbols represent women’s body painting — the designs they paint on each other in preparation for inma. A dry creek bed runs through the painting (shown in red and white), with cracks in the ground and claypans visible. Dried rockholes (Tjukula) and adjacent sandhills (Tali) are also depicted, highlighting the features of Damien’s Country.