Kieren Karritpul McTaggart 1994
Ngen’giwumirri. Malfiyin
Merrepen Arts
Nauiyu, Daly River,
Fitzmaurice region, Northern Territory
Paper bark
Bark from the paper bark tree
Acrylic on canvas
“This painting is inspired by the structure of the bark from the paper bark tree. In olden days and still today, people use this bark for many things, such as food preparation and building of shelter. The paper bark humpy was a rounded structure that gave shelter from the rain during the wet season.
Paper bark could also be moulded into a tray and used to carry water, food, and young babies. When you cook in a ground oven with rocks heated in fire the meat would be carefully wrapped in paper bark and leaves before being buried in sand. Paper bark could also be moulded into a little raft. Lastly, they would use the bark as clothes when it was cold.”
Coolamon
Container made from the paper bark tree
Acrylic on canvas
”This painting depicts a coolamon made from the bark of the paper bark tree. In the olden days people used to cut pieces of this bark with a stone axe, than shape it into a tray. This paper bark tray would be used to gather collected plants and game.”
The artist’s design was inspired by the flaky, stringy bark of the paper bark tree, from which coolamons are made.
