Joe Guymala
Gunbalanya, NT
Kubolkdjamun Kunred means sacred place and this work depicts sacred waterholes at Kubumi, in the artist's homelands of the Kulmarru clan Country. A waterhole is sacred because of its related Dreaming; you cannot drink from it or swim in a sacred waterhole.
About the Artist
Joe Guymala is a Kunwinjku artist who lives and works in Gunbalanya. He frequently spends time at Manmoyi, his outstation in Western Arnhem Land. Joe is the grandson of significant artist Namerredje (John) Guymala (1926 � c. 1978).
Joe has toured nationally as a musician with Nabarlek Band and Mimih Band and helped to write many songs with his knowledge of ancestral stories and Country.
His artwork is often playful and documents his contemporary day-to-day life out bush, and he also acknowledges his forefathers� paintings in the rock shelters of Arnhem Land as a great source of inspiration. Joe works exclusively in natural ochres using manyilk, a thin sedge-grass brush, to apply line after line, layer after layer, to create his very powerful and unique compositions.
In January 2020, Joe undertook a residency at the Kluge Ruhe Collection in Virginia, USA, and opened two exhibitions in the town. His work has been exhibited in America and England, and across Australia. He was selected as a finalist in the 2018 Telstra NATSIAA and again in 2022.
