Sade Carrington / Purnululu (Black & White Series) (3B)

Sade was born Texas Downs Station, East Kimberley in 1957.  Sade was sent to school at Beagle Bay when she was four, then to Perth to complete her education.  She worked in the homestead at Texas until 1980, when she joined her relatives at Warmun (Turkey Creek).  Sade had married Churchill Cann, then head stockman at Texas and now an Internationally known Artist.  They have three children – Dolorosa, Glen and Charlene – Charlene is now an International Artist in her own right.

Sade travelled extensively with her art, both throughout Australia and overseas.  In 1988 she was invited to present her painting to the Duchess of Kent during Her Highness’ visit to Adelaide.  Sade has exhibited in London and The Netherlands and was invited to stay for six months at Galleries in Holland to demonstrate her technique in ochre painting.  There, she exhibited successfully against artists in all mediums.  On returning to Australia, her daughter Myria (named after Sade’s mother Betty Carrington) was born in Darwin where she still lives with her French father.

Her fondest childhood memories are those of accompanying her father, Beerbee Mungnari, and the late Henry Wambini and Jack Britten on their painting expeditions.  In those days women and children were not taken to paint in the Bungles, but Jack would say “Let her come – she’s no trouble”.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2008

• ‘The Women of Warmun: Ten years on’, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA

• ‘New Voices in Gija Art’, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC

2007

• ‘Dog Dreamings’, Seva Frangos Art, Perth, WA

• ‘Ochre, Brushes, Canvas: new work from Warmun’, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW

• ‘Warmun Snapshot’, Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT

2000

• Australian Heritage Commission’s 5th National Heritage Art Award, Canberra, ACT

1999

• “World Heritage Exhibition”, Canberra

• Sixteenth National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

1998

• “Kids of Warmun”, Tandanya Gallery, Adelaide – Special Guest

1997

• Dreaming Exhibition, Arnhem, Netherlands

• Boomerang Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Contemporary Australian & Aboriginal Artists Exhibition, Immaculate Gallery, Amsterdam , Netherlands

• Women’s Dreaming Exhibition, London, UK

• Raintree Gallery, Darwin, NT

• Fourteenth National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

AWARDS

1997

• Third prize – Open Category, Darwin Art Awards

1999

• Special Commendation, Canningvale, WA

This is my Grandmother’s country, Purnululu. My Grandmother’s name was Lou-lou and she lost her parents when she was little. The Policeman and his wife at Turkey Creek ‘brought her up’ – taught her English and she used to translate for all the old people. Never lost her language (Kitja) and culture though. She was the one that taught me all the stories for our country. I’ve painted Purnululu during the wet season, just before the big storms hit and bring the rain which we love because cools everything down. The colours of this part of our country change all the time –pink in the morning, red and yellow in the hot summer time, black during the storms and green when the grass grows after the first rain. Every time you go there, it looks different. It’s just like magic – you can paint the same place at a different time of the day or year, and it’s the colours that make it look never the same.