(b. AUSTRALIA)
Sandy Maraingurra is a successful Aboriginal Artist, who belongs to the clan of Kardbam in the area of Oenpelli Australia and speaks Kunwinjku of the Mayali group. Sandy employs, effectively, the common technique used in Kunwinjku art in the works, like the multi-coloured cross-hatching. The cross-hatching derives from geometric paintings used in the Mardayin ceremony and the Kunwinjku have incorporated this particular component of ceremonial designs int their bark paintings in innovative ways. The famous artist Milaybuma (deceased) also shared this particular pattern derived from combing bands of red, yellow and white cross-hatching.
Sandy’s work achieves a unique sculptural power through the massing of forms infilled with swaths of crosshatch patterns. Management of the relationship between crosshatched spaces to create visual activity also contributes to the liveliness of the image and for Kumwinjku, suggests power of the subject. These works do not rely on symmetry so much as a more dynamic balance between geometric elements. Sandy is adept at conveying emotions in the works that appropriate to the subject.
Learnt from traditional masters.