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Bark

 

The bark used for bark paintings is cut from the stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetrodonta). The bark is cut from the tree during the Wet Season when it is moist and pliable, starting in December and going through until April or May.

The painter cuts around the trunk of the tree at the bottom and top then creates a incision down the tree, joining the two cuts together. This then allows the bark to be carefully seperated from the tree.

To flatten the bark, a fire is first made and burned down to hot coals of the right temperature. The wet bark is placed on the coals and pressed flat, with the outside rough surface in contact with the heat. Most of the moisture is driven out and the bark slowly unbends. The surface to be painted does not come into contact with the fire. The bark is then pressed flat for several days under weights. Finally, sticks are tied tightly across both ends with string in order to prevent warping. The surface is then ready to be painted.

The bark painters of Arnhem Land mainly work with four basic colours: red black, yellow and white, although sometimes the primary colours are mixed to give a pink, orange or grey. Red and yellows come from a variety of iron ochres including hematite, ironstone and limonite. White is generally gypsum or pipeclay and black is made from manganese ore or charcoal. The pigments are ground finely and mixed with water and vegetable fixatives. The most common natural fixative is the gum or resin from local trees. Nowadays the artists more frequently use a commercial acrylic binder.

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 135cm W: 46cm

Barayuwa’shas painted his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Monuk Yarrinya

Artwork

Artwork Monuk Yarrinya
bark

H: 177cm W: 42cm

This painting is associated with the ancestral events relating to the death of the ancestral whale called Mirinyuu on the beaches of Barayuwa’s mothers clan saltwater estate of Yarrinya within Blue Mud Bay. read more

Monuk Yarrinya

Artwork

Artwork Monuk Yarrinya
bark

H: 83cm W: 36cm

This painting is associated with the ancestral events relating to the death of the ancestral whale called Mirinyuu on the beaches of Barayuwa’s mothers clan saltwater estate of Yarrinya within Blue Mud Bay. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 103cm W: 38cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku at Yarrinya

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku at Yarrinya
bark

H: 102cm W: 45cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 90cm W: 32cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku at Yarrinya

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku at Yarrinya
bark

H: 63cm W: 45cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 80cm W: 53cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 137cm W: 67cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 84cm W: 52cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 91cm W: 49cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 71cm W: 52cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 69cm W: 50cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 97cm W: 50cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 72cm W: 76cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 75cm W: 51cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 175cm W: 51cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku
bark

H: 71cm W: 52cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more

Munyuku at Yarrinya

Artwork

Artwork Munyuku at Yarrinya
bark

H: 89cm W: 61cm

Barayuwa has done his mother’s Munyuku clan’s design, inspired by the late ritual specialist and artist {ula |urruwutthun. read more