Lillies - Dhambit Munuŋgurr

In this work Dhambit Munungurr captures a moment of serene beauty through her signature palette of cobalt blues and radiant contrast. Painted using a traditional marwat (human-hair brush) with her non-preferred left hand, the work exemplifies Dhambit’s resilience and her bold reinvention of Yolngu bark painting traditions.

Water lilies are a recurring subject in Yolngu art, symbolising life, renewal, and the cycles of water that sustain both land and spirit. In this work, Dhambit transforms this motif into something entirely her own, fluid yet deliberate, luminous yet grounded. The lilies float across the composition with rhythmic grace, each form pulsing with energy as if stirred by an unseen current.

The artist’s use of vivid acrylic blues, mixed with ochre, speaks to both adaptation and innovation. After a car accident in 2007 left her unable to grind ochre or paint with her dominant hand, Dhambit pioneered her own colour language. The cobalt blue that has become her hallmark imbues the work with a celestial quality, echoing both water and sky, Country and cosmology.

@ DHAMBIT MUNUNGGURR / Buku-Larrangay Art Centre, 2025