Jane Yalunga / Gudbarrdiya (1A)

Carrying on the tradition of her famous father – Rover Thomas

Jane was born in Wyndham, East Kimberley in 1972.  She grew up on Texas Downs Station (her mother’s country) and where her father worked as a stockman for many years.  She resides at Warmun Community and works with children participating in a Community Education Project at Warmun. Jane’s late husband was also an artist and they have five children.

Jane is the daughter of one of Australia’s best known artists, Rover Thomas. She commenced painting seriously in 2006 and her content includes her mother’s family country of Ngarrgooroon (Texas Downs Station), and figurative works of birds and animals as well as superb depictions of religious figurative paintings all complete with accurate information including stories and text from the Bible. She is a well educated woman, with both artistic talent and the will to succeed.  She has in-depth knowledge of her father’s family who have passed on to Jane the Culture and the Dreamings of his Kukatja heritage. Recently Jane has painted her version of a number of her father’s designs, producing amazingly strong works with minimal imaging.

Jane uses the Traditional ochres of the Kimberley region with confidence and her works hold promise of a brilliant artistic future. She has recently participated in printmaking and etching workshops, and like her late father, Jane paints both for her art centre and as an independent artist.

Selected Exhibitions

2008

• Works by Jane Yalunga, Madigan Thomas and Marika Patrick. Palya Art at Mary Place Gallery, Sydney

• Women of Warmun: Ten years On – including Jane Yalunga, Betty Carrington, Mabel Juli, Madigan Thomas, Marika Patrick, Nancy Nodea. Gadfly Gallery, Perth

2007

• Ralph Pucci International Gallery, New York (in association with Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin)

• “Dog Dreamings”, Seva Frangos Art, Subiaco, Perth, WA

• A Warmun Selection, Palya Art, Melbourne

2006 

• “Women from Texas Downs,” Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Perth, WA

• “What Bird Is That?,” Alcaston Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne, VIC

• “Warmun Art Centre Presents”, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney, NSW

This is Red Butte country – big hill country, all on Texas Downs Station. There is a cave in Red Butte (painted in yellow) where the spirit of a Juwarri (witch) lives. Long ago she was a young girl called Gudbarrdiya who was from Alice Downs way, and when she travelled to this country she got lost and stayed here. The old people say she went wangala (mad in Kitja language) – she did all sorts of silly things. She played tricks on people but no-one could ever catch her. She is still here today in that cave, and no-one goes up there any more. There are many Ngarrangkarny (Dreamtime) stories for this part of Texas Downs.