Ngarra (me)

Barrata Marika, Yolngu / Australian, born 1987
Unidentified Yolngu maker
Yirrkala
Northeast Arnhem Land
Northern Territory
Australia

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2010

Photographic linocut on Magnami Pescio

Overall: 8 1/4 × 11 13/16 in. (21 × 30 cm)

Frame: 15 3/4 × 23 1/8 in. (40 × 58.7 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Will Owen and Harvey Wagner

© Barrata Marika

2016.1.190

Geography

Place Made: Australia, Oceania

Period

21st century

Object Name

Photograph

Research Area

Photograph

On view

Label

The expressive greens, yellows, blues, and oranges emanating from the center of this self-portrait vibrantly capture the personality of the artist, shining out as though glowing themselves. The everyday and the imagined come together in the carefully hand-drawn additions of wings and a halo around the central figure; dressed in a contemporary collared shirt, she seems to exist as simultaneously ordinary and spiritually powerful. The full control the artist has over their own representation can be a powerful tool for self-expression and literal self-determination, especially for Indigenous artists.

From the 2024 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity in the Pacific and Beyond, curated by Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity Throughout Pasifika and Beyond, Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 2 – December 21, 2024.

Provenance

Buku Larrnggay Mulka, Yirrkala via Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia; sold to Will Owen (1952-2015) and Harvey Wagner (1931-2017), Chapel Hill, North Carolina; given to present collection, 2016.

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