Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori
Dibirdibi Country, 2010
synthetic polymer paint on linen
1960 x 1510mm
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Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori c.1924 – 2015, Bentinck Island, Australia Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was an Australian artist who started painting at the age of 81. In a short span...
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori
c.1924 – 2015, Bentinck Island, Australia
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was an Australian artist who started painting at the age of 81. In a short span of time, she became a highly celebrated artist with an international profile. Gabori went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and represented Australia in the 2013 Venice Biennale.
Gabori was born into an indigenous hunter-gatherer society on Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, circa 1924. Contacted by Christian missionaries, Gabori and her family were forced to move to a reservation on nearby Mornington Island in the 1940s after drought and devastating storms. She was not able to return until the 1980s, when small outstations were constructed on Bentinck. As the island remained remote and lacking in infrastructure, Gabori was unable to spend much time there.1
Though she was versed in weaving throughout her life, she only began to paint in 2005. Her large, colourful abstract paintings acted as works of translation of her personal and mythological experiences of aboriginal culture and her enduring relationship to the land and environment of Bentinck. Gabori’s unique style, vision and story captured the imagination of the art world. In 2015, Gabori died at the age of 91 in Mornington Island, Australia. During her decade as an active painter, she created a substantial body of highly unique and visually compelling artwork.
Gabori painted Dibirdibi Country in 2010. The painting presents the viewer with a striking palette of rich colour. Vigorously applied, the paintwork sets up tonal contrasts that range from subtle to stark. Gabori’s paintings ‘map’ the environment of Bentinck and surrounding areas – not through literal depiction, but through a sensory or experiential response. Dibirdibi Country is a compelling example of the artist’s unique and powerful approach to painting.
c.1924 – 2015, Bentinck Island, Australia
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was an Australian artist who started painting at the age of 81. In a short span of time, she became a highly celebrated artist with an international profile. Gabori went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and represented Australia in the 2013 Venice Biennale.
Gabori was born into an indigenous hunter-gatherer society on Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, circa 1924. Contacted by Christian missionaries, Gabori and her family were forced to move to a reservation on nearby Mornington Island in the 1940s after drought and devastating storms. She was not able to return until the 1980s, when small outstations were constructed on Bentinck. As the island remained remote and lacking in infrastructure, Gabori was unable to spend much time there.1
Though she was versed in weaving throughout her life, she only began to paint in 2005. Her large, colourful abstract paintings acted as works of translation of her personal and mythological experiences of aboriginal culture and her enduring relationship to the land and environment of Bentinck. Gabori’s unique style, vision and story captured the imagination of the art world. In 2015, Gabori died at the age of 91 in Mornington Island, Australia. During her decade as an active painter, she created a substantial body of highly unique and visually compelling artwork.
Gabori painted Dibirdibi Country in 2010. The painting presents the viewer with a striking palette of rich colour. Vigorously applied, the paintwork sets up tonal contrasts that range from subtle to stark. Gabori’s paintings ‘map’ the environment of Bentinck and surrounding areas – not through literal depiction, but through a sensory or experiential response. Dibirdibi Country is a compelling example of the artist’s unique and powerful approach to painting.