Queenie McKenzie

Queenie McKenzie
Australian c. 1915–1998
language group: Gija

Untitled 1994
earth pigments and natural binder on canvas
Gift of Jim Cousins AO and Libby Cousins through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2018

Mingmarriya/Gara Garag (Queenie McKenzie) was a pioneer of the Kimberley art movement, an established painter, and a respected custodian of the local Gija customs and lore. Her art represents powerful landscapes and important stories of her Country.

This work depicts two different parts of her Country north of Turkey Creek, divided on the canvas by a dark line. The right side portrays the hills near the turn off from the highway to Argyle Diamond Mine. The left side depicts a dangerous place near Kilfoyle Yard, a Country called Mayimboorroonji. In the Dreaming/s, people from the West advise an old man in the East to stay away. The old man replies, ‘I will kill you mob if you come here’. Today, it is still considered a dangerous place where loose stones may fall on people passing by.