Just when you thought you could no longer be surprised by the variety and vitality of desert art, along comes Agnes Armstrong to tell you about her birth under a baobab tree on Ivanhoe Station – Penny Webb, The Age

Nestled amidst the ancient ridges of steep-sided mountain ranges, where the thick tropical air intensifies the sweeping grandeur of the landscape as it rolls out across the infinite horizon, is the remote east Kimberley township of Kununurra. It is here, in a sleepy village of hastily constructed fibro and corrugated iron dwellings, that the artists of Waringarri Aboriginal Arts contemplate the majesty of their traditional lands. The sweltering temperatures and wide open plains induce a casual transience in the township, but on the canvases of these senior artists this is revealed in a profound meditation upon space, place and existence. The burnt ochres of the land pour forth with a solemnity and grace, like the memory of a place that has suddenly fallen silent in the mid-morning warmth, when the air is still and there is no movement in the wild fronds of the abundant tropical palms.

These are paintings that speak an ancient baroque language, whose grandeur stems from the subtle counterpoints of tradition and knowledge, but whose true power reveals itself slowly across broad acres of gently modulated colour. To the western mind, these broad spaces induce fear, as identity is dissolved amidst the oppressive infinity of the wilderness. To the Indigenous inhabitants of these lands, however, it is from these plains that all identity comes. It is a feeling summed up in the term Dawang: a word meaning ‘our country, our place, our home’. For the Indigenous custodians of the land, it is a term that refers to both their physical and spiritual connections to place.

The artists of Waringarri take much pride in their culture, stories and unique painting tradition. Artists earn the right to paint country from permission given by the elders, parents and grandparents. “Country” is painted with an acute knowledge and understanding derived from the continuous close contact of walking through country, hunting and learning the Dreamtime stories that created the land as well as the contemporary events and experiences that have become significant recollections of life and culture with the land.

The nature of these expressions reveal the unique life-experiences of the individual artists. For Agnes Armstrong (b.1954), there is a delicate sense of reminiscence in her lovingly portrayed bark-shelters. Born under the Boab tree, her works present a joy filled insouciance that is only occasionally interrupted with sadness of a nostalgic memory of times passed. This fine balance of pathos and joy saw Armstrong highly commended in the 2007 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

The whimsical pleasure of Armstrong’s canvases is in stark contrast to the majestic solemnity of the works of senior men Peter Newry (b.1939) and Ronnie Yundun (b.1950). In Newry’s works, space is created along cragged ridges whose jutting edges speak of a long life lived in the Kimberley. In their powerful simplicity, Newry’s paintings speak to the heart of the landscape, professing its austere grandeur without recourse to sentimentality. Yundun, on the other hand, employs a stunning combination of open space and fine detail, revealing his passionate engagement in both the minutiae and grandness of the landscape. Both men are important cultural leaders, and have been instrumental in passing their knowledge and stories onto a younger generation of artists at Waringarri. Through their paintings, their teachings and their example, the artists of Waringarri are keeping alive the traditions of their country and protecting Dawang, their home.

The Mossenson Galleries, in conjunction with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts is proud to present a new exhibition of works from one of the East Kimberly’s oldest and most influential art centres. Dawang: Our Country, Our Place, Our Home features works from Peter Newry, Agnes Armstrong, Ronnie Yundun, Daisy Bitting and Carole Hapke. The exhibition will be launched at 6pm on Tuesday 13 May 2008 by Peter Hylands, Film Producer, Writer and Social Activist.