Born in 1924 on Bentinck Island, Queensland, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori had little contact with non-Kaiadilt people until the 1940s when she was forced to leave her native island for Mornington Island. Throughout her life she has been an accomplished producer of traditional Pandanus fibre and Hibiscus bark handicrafts, yet it is only since 2005 – when she began painting on canvas – that she came to national attention.
Gabori’s intensely colourful and vibrant canvases express the landscape of her tropical homeland. The intuitive way she mixes colour on the canvas, blending and bleeding from one shape to another, continually reappraising forms to set them in dynamic relationships, gives a sense of tidal fluidity that corresponds to the stories associated with her country, Bentinck Island.
ANU Drill Hall Gallery
Until 5 May, 2013
ACT
Dibirdibi Country, 2012, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 136 x 136cm
Courtesy the artist and Alcaston Gallery
