Lloyd Kwilla Wangkatjungka, b. 1980
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in
Born in Derby in 1980, Lloyd Kwilla is the son of the late Billy Thomas (Karnta Karnta) - painter, medicine man and senior Lawman from the Great Sandy Desert. Kwilla spent most of his childhood at Wangkatjungka community on Christmas Creek station, where he acquired a love of the landscape that surrounded him, and an intimate knowledge of its secrets. He is now raising six children in the country of his forebears and despite his young age has taken a leading role in political and cultural issues across a broad tract of country in which he has connections. A fluent English speaker, he has been the community supervisor and council chair and works also at the Wangkajungka school. Kwilla learned to paint alongside his father, and while this influence can be seen in some work, he has steadily developed his own distinct idiom. Using only the richly coloured ochres gathered from country, he boldly applies the hand-ground pigments to canvas in lush swathes, creating work of dramatic intensity. Art lovers have been mesmerised by his mellifluous manipulation of warm colour and dazzling white, layered to depict aerial perspectives of the Jumu (waterholes) and Tali (sand hills) of the Great Sandy Desert. He was hailed as one of the top Australian undiscovered artists by Australian Art Collector magazine and his work has featured in seven successful solo exhibitions including sell out exhibitions in London, Darwin and Victoria. This painting depicts a very important place for Kwilla. Kulyayi is his place of birth given to him by his father and other elders as the country that he is culturally connnected with and is responsible for its well being. Lloyd is very active in caring for Kulyayi and while he lives in Wangkajunga Community some 400 km from Kulyayi he visits regularly and digs the waterhole and burns the grasses bringing new life to the country. This work depicts Kulyayi as the central motif of the painting.