Wattles in flower
Mavis Ngallametta, Kugu-Uwanh people, Putch clan, Australia 1944–2019 / Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower) (detail) 2008 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / 84 x 96cm / Gift of the artist through the QAGOMA Foundation 2015. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Estate of Mavis Ngallametta / View full image
As we celebrate National Wattle Day on the first day of September each year, we delve into two works that include the wattle — with over 1,000 species of acacia Australia-wide, it’s the nation’s largest family of flowering plants. While the flowering times of wattle vary greatly depending on the region, Australia’s national flower — the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) — displays our national colours, green and gold, with flowers from the beginning of September signalling the start of Spring.
The wattle has become a popular symbol of Australia and Australians and can be depicted as a unifying symbol for land and people. The wattle flower is also synonymous — as is the poppy —to acknowledge those Australian service men and women that have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives.
Mavis Ngallametta Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower) 2008
Referring to the painting Mo’Yakal 2008 (illustrated), Mavis Ngallametta said ‘White and yellow wattle flowers are all around starting in the Easter month of April with white ones and then finishing with the yellow ones around June.
An elder of the Putch clan and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun (Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland), Ngallametta was one of the most well-regarded senior community-based artists in Australia, depicting her community’s riotous scenes of post-wet season abundance, a climatic phenomenon well known to people who live their lives just feet above the swamp line. Many of Ngallametta’s works were bold and celebratory — with brightly coloured flowers.
Mavis Ngallametta, Kugu-Uwanh people, Putch clan, Australia 1944–2019 / Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower) 2008 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / 84 x 96cm / Gift of the artist through the QAGOMA Foundation 2015. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Estate of Mavis Ngallametta / View full image
