We are so excited to announce our first First Nation's wearable art in collaboration with Warlukurlangu Artist's Centre, one of Australia's longest running and most successful Aboriginal-owned art centres in Central Australia.
We are honoured to feature Alicka Napanangka Brown's work and Dreaming. For those not familiar with First Nation's ( or Australian Aboriginal) Dreaming artwork, this style of art is one medium for sharing important cultural stories of history, survival on the land, food acquisition/hunting and cultural identity. It is with deep respect and admiration that we collaborate with both Alicka Napanangka Brown, her community and Warlukurlangu Artist's Centre to use this artwork.
The artist, Alicka Napanangka Brown, is a young lady from Yuendumu, NT. Alicka paints her Grandmother’s Yanjirlpirri Jukurrpa (Star Dreaming) and her father’s Yarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming) stories that relate directly to plants, the land and animals in her region. Alicka has a unique approach that couples her individualist style using patterns and design coupled with traditional iconography to depict her traditional Jukurrpa.
This artwork is a story of how bush tucker is found in the desert, namely Yarla (Yarla= Bush Potato). In a contemporary painting from Warlpiri (Warlpiri= the region located in the Northern Territory ), traditional iconography is used to represent Dreamtime stories (the Jukurrpa). In this painting, the curved lines (the kuruwarri) are ceremonial designs that represent the vines that trail out from the growing potatoes (Yarla-depicted here as white/ pink ovals).
Men and women of the Warlpiri country will use digging sticks (Karlangu) to search for the bush potato (Yarla) and wild bush carrots (Wapirti).
* This Dreaming artwork and its intellectual property will always remain the property of the artist Alicka Napanangka Brown and her community. We've used this artwork with permission and proceeds of each sale of this print go back to Alicka Napanangka Brown and her community.
To celebrate the collaboration with Warlukurlangu Artist's Centre, we're including a complimentary little lipstick purse / multi-purpose purse with every dress purchase. These pouches are made from off-cut fabric that would normally be wasted during production.
