Gabriella Possum

About the Artist

 

 

Born in 1967 in Mt. Allan, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi is the eldest daughter of renowned artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. She was taught to paint by her father at a very young age, and since her father passing away, the value of her works has increased dramatically. His influences are apparent in her work, yet she has formed a style of her own.

Her paintings depict stories such as Bush Tucker (Exploding Seed and Black Seed from the Mt. Allan area), Women’s Ceremonies, Serpent, Goanna and Seven Sisters Dreamings. Gabriella’s work is bold and vivid in colour and composition and utilises many different techniques, the “dot” technique in particular. One of the significant stories that Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi paints is titled Grandmother’s Country. The subject relates to Gabriella’s Grandmother’s Country near Mt Allan in the Northern Territory. This is an important place for her family, where bush food in abundance and women are shown in the paintings collecting the food. There are waterholes and meeting places depicted and many types of bush food are identified including berries, yams and honey ants.

In 1985, at the tender age of 16, Gabriella won the coveted Alice Springs Art Award while still a student at Yirara Lutheran College in Alice Springs. She is recognised as a culturally significant artist and her work has been exhibited in the U.S.A and throughout Europe. Her work is in many major collections including the National Gallery of Australia and most recently she was commissioned to complete a twenty metre art installation depicting her custodial Grandmother’s Country for the 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower Show which was awarded the Gold Metal. She now lives in Melbourne with her husband and five children.

Selected Exhibitions

1987 exhibition in Brisbane with her father Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri      and sister Michelle Possum
1988 Aboriginal ‘Dot’ Painting, Melbourne
1992 Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney
1992 Washington DC, U.S.A.
1993 Berne, Switzerland
1998 ‘Sztuka Aborygenow – (Art of the Aborigines)’, Warsaw, Poland
1999 Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
1999 Aboriginal Art Galleries of Australia, Melbourne
2000 United Nations, New York
2001 Mia Mia Gallery, Melbourne.
2009 Solo Exhibition, Kate Owen Gallery, Rozelle, Sydney

Collections

National Gallery of Australia (Canberra)
Museum Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Flinders University Art museum Adelaide
Holmes A Court Collection,
Kelton Foundation Collection, USA
Winterthur Collection, Switzerland and many others.

Awards

1991, Professional Development Grant, from the Aboriginal Arts Unit of the Australia Council for the Arts.
1993 Alice Springs Art Prize Record Cover for ‘Coloured Stone’.