Lai Lai (creation time)

Product Details

This painting is about Lailai. before time began the land was created by the first Wandjinas that came down from the Milky Way and these are represented in the top images and the emu represents the Milky Way. The first Wandjinas then went back up to the sky and created all living things on the earth.

The first beings were the Gyorn Gyorn but they became lawless so the Wandjina from the Milky Way then made Wandjinas like him to set laws back on the land. These same laws we Wororra, Ngarinyin, and Wunambul people follow as people of the Wandjina.

The image of Ngaamaaddalai (Namarali) and other images in the middle represent that time in Lalai, and other images at the bottom and around the whole board represent now like all the unggud snakes are babies the bush yams that we eat, so all up it's THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END/NOW.

Kallum was born in Perth in 1996. Kallum's father is a Nyikina man, and his mother is from Worrorra country. Kallum's great-grandmother, Gudu Mungulu, is a Ngarinyin woman, and his great-grandfather is a Worrorra man. Kallum identifies with all of the Mowanjum tribes and commonly paints all three of the Wandjinas.

At the age of 16, Kallum moved to Freshwater Cove, where he became interested in painting. He began life there working as a tour guide through the old sites. Here, Donny Woolagoodja taught him everything about the Wandjina, his people, his culture and art. The cultural and artistic knowledge that Kallum gained over me helped him develop his own unique style that encompassed painting the three Wandjinas along with Dumbi the owl. His artwork was displayed at the Sydney Opera House Homeground Markets Exhibition in 2017 and is currently displayed at Mowanjum Arts.

Not only is Kallum a talented artist, he is also a singer, songwriter and the front man of the local band, The Cruisers. Previously, Kallum worked at Derby radio station playing his music on air and recording his work. However, now Kallum performs more freelance gigs and is developing as a solo artist, performing at Mowanjum Festival multiple times.

Kallum also works at the North Western coast as a ranger. He finds that this allows him to keep his connection to his country strong.

While on country, Kallum finds he has the strongest connection to his painting and his songwriting. He paints the majority of his spirit paintings while travelling up the coast and writes lyrics and music that explore his culture, history and country.

127 cm x 70 cm x 3 cm

Acrylic on stretched canvas

Lai Lai (creation time)

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