Peppimenarti artists - a group of artists to keep an eye on, 2005

Considering that it takes as long to make a mat or basket as to paint a picture, fibre works appear to be undervalued. A group of Peppimenarti artists has taken the patterns and colours of weavings and translated them into a sumptuous array of colourful and intriguing images.

The exhibition of Peppimenarti artists at Span Gallery and organised by Artabout brings to the public an opportunity to see some polished indigenous art. Peppimenarti is located on the wetlands south of Darwin, where the main language groups are Nganikurunggur and Ngangiwumurri. Traditionally, the female artists of this community made richly coloured baskets, mats and fish nets, however, a few years ago a group emerged who based their paintings on these objects, showing great control, clarity and a high degree of finish. The works on exhibition are thematically linked by an interest in depicting these woven fibres.

Indigenous art based on the hatched and looped patterns found in fibre works has become a fertile theme for artists beyond Peppimenarti. The Utopia artist Makinti Napanangka bases her more recent paintings on the patterns of woven grass skirts; emerging artist Lorraine Northey-Connelly has made a series of works using scrap metal and feathers to reference dilly bags and possum skin cloaks; and the prints of Maningrida artist Dorothy Galaledba beautifully capture the form of dilly bags. This new approach at once removes the dreamtime themes from the works, where stories and images are submerged beneath patterns, and puts the works on the same level as those by non-indigenous artists where the artist is free to explore the surface of the canvas.

In this exhibition each artist works through their own signature styles– dots, cross hatchings or looping patterns - the common touchpoint being the artist’s own experience creating fibre works. The works titles like Basket Weaving is frequently used as a title and the method of weaving informs the pattern making as well as informing the delicate and individual brush work.

Regina Wilson is the best known of the group, having won the prestigious 2003 Telstra Art Award for painting. Two works in particular stand out - Message Sticks and Syaw Fish Net. The fish nets are woven from pinbin (bush vine), which is shredded into fibers that is then woven into a fish net, that can be used for catching fish, prawns and other aquatic delicacies from the abundant rivers and billabongs. Wilson’s paintings of the fish nets are elegant, unique and very highly regarded by collectors and institutions. She is a master weaver herself and in this exhibition demonstrates her knowledge of various weaving styles used for baskets, mats and the fishing nets.

Two works that I found particularly liked were by Patsy Marfura, with jewel like bands of dots that formed intricate patterns over the surface - these drew my eye to them, each and every time I walked into the exhibition space.

Of the four paintings by Theresa Lemon, the painting of note was Mat Weaving - with a restrained but powerful palette, the surface marking the tightly interwoven strands of dyed pandanus with the alternating bands of colour. The other three works, all titled Basket Weaving were bright highly keyed, crisp works.

The paintings from Peppimenarti provide a refreshing exhibition, where the works range form the spidery, intricate and complex surfaces of Regina Wilson's images to the colourful and vibrant images by Mabel Jimarin. In making the textured and colourful patterns of woven mats and baskets the starting point, the artists have traversed into the exotic domain of collectible artworks.

• Artabout
• Peppimenarti Council

By Martin Shub, November 2005.