Bark Coolamon by Lily Karadada
Bark Coolamon by Lily Karadada
Lily Karadada c.1920
59 x 25 x 20cm
Bark, natural resin, bush string, ochre
©Lily Karadada/Licensed through Copyright Agency 2018
Lily was born in the Prince Regent River area of Western Australia known as Woomban-goo-wan-gorr, her father’s Country. Both parents were from the Woonambal tribe and living a traditional lifestyle. Lily was given the name of Mindindil meaning ‘bubbles’ after her father looked down into the spring water from the top of the hill and saw the spring bubbling a few hours after Lily was born. As a newborn she was carried around in a bark coolamon called namarrga, such as this one which Lily appears to have painted with her ‘bubbles’.
Lily is widely recognised and respected as one of the most outstanding painters of mythical Wandjina figures, central to and of the utmost importance within the culture of the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Artbank, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, U.S.A
Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia.
Christensen Collection, held Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
Museum de Lyon, France.