Gemma Unghango / Gwion Gwion and Wandjina Rock Art (GU220)

Gemma Unghango was born at Kalumburu in 1961 and is a Gaambera woman of the north Kimberley. Her mother was Gaambera and her father was from the Wullumbi people. Gemma has lived at Kalumburu throughout her life and grew up at the historic Kalumburu Mission, where she was raised by the Benedictine nuns and later worked in the mission gardens, kitchen and bakery.

A quietly spoken and gentle woman, Gemma is a mother of five and has been painting since the mid 1990s. Her early works were sold through the Kalumburu Museum, and she has also contributed paintings to the Kalumburu Catholic Church. Gemma recalls being encouraged to paint by one of the priests at the mission, helping begin an artistic practice that has continued for many years.

Gemma is particularly known for her paintings of Gwion Gwion. These elegant ancestral figures are found throughout the ancient rock shelters of the north Kimberley and are an important part of the cultural landscape of her Country. Her paintings often feature groups of slender figures with long limbs, elaborate headdresses, body adornments and implements, creating a strong sense of movement, gathering and activity.

She also paints Wandjina and other imagery connected with the rock art and cultural traditions of the north Kimberley. Through these works Gemma brings imagery deeply embedded in the landscape around Kalumburu into contemporary painting, maintaining a connection between Country, ancestral stories and generations of cultural knowledge.

Gemma’s work has been included in a number of exhibitions, including Connection to Country in 2018, Revealed: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists at Fremantle Arts Centre in 2019, In Ochre and Our Land: Our Place in 2019, and Across the Water in South Fremantle in 2024. She also illustrated Father Anscar McPhee’s 2011 book A Hero in the Night Time of the Dreaming: The Story of Penda Gudje.

This painting brings together two of the great rock art traditions of the north Kimberley, the Wandjina and the Gwion Gwion.

Wandjina are powerful ancestral creator beings whose images are found in caves and rock shelters throughout the Kimberley. They are closely associated with water, clouds, rain and the regeneration of Country brought by the wet season. Wandjina are central to the cultural and spiritual traditions of the peoples of this region and remain an important living presence within Country.

The slender figures surrounding the Wandjina are Gwion Gwion. These ancestral and spiritual figures are often depicted with elongated bodies, elaborate headdresses and body decorations and carrying implements associated with hunting, gathering, dancing and ceremony.

Gwion Gwion are closely connected with the Wandjina tradition and are described in stories from the region as helpers of the Wandjina. They are associated with the passing on of knowledge about Country, hunting, food, seasons, medicine, song and dance.

In Gemma Unghango’s paintings, Wandjina and Gwion Gwion come together as part of the cultural landscape of her north Kimberley Country. Rather than belonging only to an ancient past, these figures remain part of a continuing tradition, connecting the rock shelters, stories and knowledge of earlier generations with the present day.