Michael Nelson Jagamara

Yam Dreaming’ and other works

Born around 1946 at Pikily west of Yuendemu, in Central Australia, aboriginal artist Michael Neslon Jagamara grew up in the bush and remembers hiding in fear at his first sight of white men at Mt Doreen station. He is a senior Warlpiri tribesman and custodian of many Dreaming stories. He believes it is his responsibility to preserve, in paint and print, the stories which can assist the teaching of others about his tradition and culture…

Works

BMW artcars

Jagamara is a key figure in the renewal of contemporary Aboriginal painting, which began at Papunya, in the Western Desert, in the 1970s. His best-known work is a mosaic for the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra. Kangaroo is a graphic representation of this totemic animal. Three strong black lines indicate the marks left by the two feet and tail of a kangaroo in the desert sand. Based on a traditional design, the energetic painting style shows the artist’s assimilation of western expressionist painting to the Indigenous totem…