Paruku (Lake Gregory)

Rover Thomas
Kukatja/Wangkatjunga people, Western Australia
1926 – 1998

Paruku (Lake Gregory)
1991
earth pigments on canvas
Place made
Turkey Creek, east Kimberley, Western Australia
Medium
earth pigments on canvas
Dimensions
168.0 x 183.0 cm
Credit line
South Australian Government Grant 1991
Accession number
919P26
Signature and date
Not signed. Not dated.
Media category
Painting
Collection area
Australian paintings - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Copyright
© Artist's estate, Courtesy Warmun Art Centre

  • Former stockman Rover Thomas played a seminal role in the contemporary Aboriginal art movement of Western Australia’s east Kimberley region. After the death of a close relative, Thomas experienced a series of dreams in which he saw her spirit returning to Country, visiting sites of sacred or historical significance along the way. His visions gave rise in 1975 to the Krill Krill dance ceremony, during which participants carried painted boards. From this beginning, other themes developed in his work, which features the use of natural ochres rather than the strong acrylic colours often seen in Western Desert paintings.

    Thomas’s painting Paruku (Lake Gregory) depicts the large freshwater lake that borders the cattle station where he grew up, worked and was initiated into traditional law, making it a place of personal significance. The five creeks leading to the lake indicate its importance as a meeting place for the Gija people.

    Barry Patton, Tarnanthi Writer & Researcher

  • [Book] AGSA 500.