Ngarralja Tommy May. Photo by Sarah Landro.
Ngarralja Tommy May
Commission | State Collection
Gallery 02
An ambitious new sculptural work from one of Australia's most significant Aboriginal artists.
AGWA presents a brand new sculptural commission from award-winning Wangkajunga/Walmajarri artist Ngarralja Tommy May. The work, which takes the form of a golden rain cloud and hangs suspended from AGWA’s ceiling in aluminium and laser-cut brass, positions Ngarralja firmly within global contemporary art dialogues about climate and Indigenous systems of caring for Country.
Born at Yarrnkurnja in the Great Sandy Desert, Ngarralja went on to play an instrumental role in establishing models for Aboriginal economic and cultural survival and autonomy through art-making in the 1970s and 80s when he and his contemporaries were forced off Country and could no longer work as stockmen. He dances and sings Kurtal, a ceremony relating to the main jila [living waterhole] in his country. A painter, carver and printmaker, Ngarralja’s practice is related to a deep sense of pride that comes with being born in the desert: he uses art to educate, inspire and show his love of Country.
“With an artistic career spanning more than three decades, Ngarralja Tommy May’s triumphant artwork symbolises the artist at the height of his creative powers.” — Telstra NATSIAA Judges on Ngarralja’s Wirrkanja 2020
Ngarralja’s importance to the arts and cultural community in Fitzroy Crossing and the broader Kimberley region can’t be overstated. His leadership helped lay the foundation for remote art centres as we know them today.
This work was commissioned with funds generously bequeathed by the late Bonice Tollafield.
