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Darling Portrait Prize 2020 Finalist
This is my hospital where I been born and they put down la coolamon (traditional carrying vessel made of bark or wood) and got that paperbark ready for me to lie on in the coolamon. The station manager wife later tell me: ‘14 now – you have to look for work’. I was going milking nanny goats and bringing back milk. Making beds and lots of things; setting table for kartiya (whitefellas) and washing and ironing – I been learn on station. Good manager's wife she was, nice. Never been cheeky, never trying to whip us or anything like that. I do this painting for myself to remember when I been born and grow up and start working.
27 May 2020
Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.
Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.
The Darling Prize is a new biennial prize for Australian portrait painters, painting Australian sitters. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.
