The Goanna, one of the traditional Dreaming stories
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa, Anmatyerre/Arrernte people, Australia c.1925–89 / Goanna Story c.1973–74 / Synthetic polymer paint on board / 76 x 60.2cm / Purchased 1996 with funds from National Australia Bank Limited through the QAG Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa Estate/Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency / View full image
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa (c.1925–89) was a well-known artist and respected Elder of Anmatyerre/Arrernte heritage. Many of his artworks like Untitled (Goanna Story) 1971 and Goanna Story c.1973–74 have a strong sense of symmetry.
The Goanna — a large carnivorous lizard which lives in the dry climates of Australia — is one of the traditional Dreaming stories from the time when Ancestral Spirits created life and important physical geographic formations and sites that Tjampitjinpa represented in his work. Goanna Story is an interesting combination of traditional imagery with realistic depictions of the goannas, here he has depicted four of the reptiles moving towards the middle of the image to what may represent a waterhole. The images of flowers may also indicate the story relates to water, and how it transforms the desert.
Goanna Story c.1973–74
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa, Anmatyerre/Arrernte people, Australia c.1925–89 / Goanna Story c.1973–74 / Synthetic polymer paint on board / 76 x 60.2cm / Purchased 1996 with funds from National Australia Bank Limited through the QAG Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa Estate/Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency / View full image
(Goanna Story) 1971
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa, Anmatyerre/Arrernte people, Australia c.1925–89 / Untitled (Goanna Story) 1971 / Synthetic polymer paint on composition board / 78.5 x 54.5cm / Purchased 2020 with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account and the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Estate of Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa/Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency / View full image
Delve into artistic expressions from the world's oldest continuing culture drawn from all regions of the country in QAGOMAs holdings of Indigenous Australian artworks, with a focus the on rich diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and experiences in Queensland.