Malaluba Gumana is one of an important group of women, including senior artists Nyapanyapa Yunupingu and Nongirrnga Marawili, who have redefined the subjects and styles of Yolngu art. She was highly admired for her skill in marwat – a cross hatching technique using a fine brush of human hair and her paintings and larrakitj (hollow log memorial poles) are notable for their delicate free-flowing compositions in contrast to the geometric style that is characteristic of Yolngu art.

North-east Arnhem Land is the home of the Yolngu and this region has a long history of artistic production with many notable artists. Classical Yolngu art most often depicts Creation Stories and features intricate cross-hatching known as miny’tji, sacred designs which belong to individual artists and clans and have been passed down through the generations from the Creator Ancestors. Miny’tji encode precise meanings, detailing the relationships between people of different clans and their connection to specific areas of land and sea.

Gumana grew up in Numbulwar and moved to Yirrkala as a young mother. She returned to live in Gängan, a small community several hours south of Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land when Indigenous people were returning to their homelands. The ancestral forces of Gumana’s Country are depicted in her bark painting Dhatam (waterlilies) 2019. In this work the rainbow serpent wititj (olive python) moves amongst the dhatam at the billabong Garrimala, close to Gängan. The sinuous forms of the leaves and stem of the dhatam curve in front of delicately rendered miny’tji. Gumana has skilfully mixed natural pigments of red, yellow, black and white to produce a subtle range of brown, grey, and olive tones. Gumana’s intricate line-work creates a shimmering effect that evokes ripples on the surface of water and the prismatic effect of sun reflected from the scales of the snake.

Gumana exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in Australia. In 2019 she won the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and the bark painting category in 2013. Gumana’s work is held in major public and private institutions including the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

RESOURCES 

Malaluba Gumana | Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre