Aboriginal Painting: Faye Nangala Hudson

ABOUT THE WORK Faye Nangala Hudson paints the story of Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs Dreaming), a sacred waterhole that never runs dry. A natural spring located near Mount Doreen Station, it is said to have been shaped by two Rainbow Serpents who lived as husband and wife. The relationship between the two ancestors being contrary to Warlpiri religious laws due to the incompatibility between their two clan groups. Women came to remove lice attached to the bodies of the two mythical beings who, in exchange, gave them the right to take water. Aboriginal women still celebrate ceremonies in this place where the spirit of the two serpents still resides. In her paintings, Faye Nangala Hudson depicts the ngawarra (flood waters) of this sacred site with curved or straight lines. With meticulousness, she describes the landscape of her territory. Circles represent mulju (water wells) and short straight lines illustrate mangkurdu (cumulus and stratocumulus clouds). Under his brush, the aboriginal symbols expand, and the warm colors characteristic of the Australian red desert are superimposed creating a unique vibratory effect which materializes the waves of the water. This painting is from 2017 ABOUT FAYE (THEO) NANGALA HUDSON Faye Nangala Hudson was born in 1989 in Alice Springs. She grew up in Nyirripi, an Aboriginal community located 440 km northwest of Alice Springs. She attended the local school until she was fourteen. She began painting at the age of thirteen, in 2002, joining the Warlukurlangu Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal art centre, from this period. She paints dreams inherited from her mother and father: Yuparli Jukurrpa (Bush Banana Dreaming) and the Pikilyi Jukuurpa (Vaughan Springs Dreaming). Taking up traditional aboriginal symbols, she develops a colorful personal style combining flat areas of pure colors and dotpainting. A certificate of authenticity accompanies the painting.