Kuninjku artist Susan Marawarr was born in 1967 into a strong artistic family. She is the daughter of Anchor Kulunba and Mary Wurrdjedje, and the sister of acclaimed bark painters James Iyuna and John Mawurndjul. Marawarr is an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, weaver and bark painter. Common subjects of her work include the powerful djang of wak wak, ngalyod and yawkyawk mythologies alongside the imagery of popular everyday items like dilly bags, fish-traps, mats and baskets. She is known for her striking black and white palette. This combined with her use of deep perspective often creates graphic optical effects, movement and energy in her idiosyncratic works.
In 2000, she collaborated with the Waanyi artist Judy Watson in the development of Watson’s public art commission of fish fences and dilly bags cast in bronze for Sydney International Airport. Marawarr toured the United States in 2001 with the exhibition Bush Colour promoting the work of female printmakers as well as supervising bark painting workshops.
Over the last decade Marawarr’s artwork has been shown at numerous galleries and cultural institutions including, Gabrielle Pizzi, Annandale Galleries, JGM (London) and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Her work is held in many national collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Victoria and National Gallery of Australia.
Susan is part of the art centres Maningrida Arts & Culture and Bábbarra Women’s Centre.
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Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 Susan Marawarr – Suzanne OConnell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Painting Now – Peindre aujourd’hui en terres aborigènes, Le Havre, France
2019 IDAIA x Babbarra Women’s Centre, Paris, France
2019 Jarracharra: Dry season wind / Les vents de la saison sèche, Australian Embassy, Paris, France
2018 Ngaldjorlhbo | Mother of Everything | Mère de Toute Création – IDAIA, Paris, France
2018 Samson Bonson/Susan Marawarr – Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2018 Karrang Kunred / Mother-Land – The Crossart Projects, Sydney, NSW
2017 White Ochre – FORM, Perth, Australia
2017 Karridjowkke Kunronj (Crossing Streams) – Nomad Art, Darwin, NT
2016 Beyond the Surface – Cairns Regional Gallery, QLD
2016 Maningrida Arts – Art Atrium, Bondi, NSW
2016 Maningrida Arts – Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
2015 Maningrida Works on Paper – Aboriginal Cultural Centre, NSW
2013 Australia: Prints – Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
2011 The Dreaming Changes Shape – Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Maningrida: Mimih, Fibres and Feathers – Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
2008 Weaving around the Traps – Chapman & Bailey, Melbourne, VIC
2008 Palya Art at Mary Place – Mary Place, Sydney, NSW
2008 Maningrida Survey – Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2008 Maningrida Arts – Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2007 Selected new works from Maningrida – Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin
2007 Maningrida group show – Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2007 After the Wet – Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT
2007 Spirit in Variation Part II – Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2005 Paris-Djinkarr-Milmilngkan – Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT
2004 Divas of the Desert:Maningrida, Minymaku – Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
2004 Crossing Country – The alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art – AGNSW, Sydney, NSW
2004 Maningrida recent works – Maningrida recent works, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
2003 Dreamtime, Contemporary Aboriginal Art – Cankarjev Dom Ljubljana, Slovenia
2003 Maningrida Threads – Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
2003 Weave – NTU Gallery, Darwin, NT
2003 Weave – Federation Centre for the Arts, Bundoora Homestead, VIC
2003 Threads of time – Burrinja gallery, Upwey, VIC
2003 SistaActs – Maroondah Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2002 Barks in the spotlight – Utrecht, The Netherlands
2001 In the Heart of Arnhem Land. Myth and the making of contemporary Aboriginal art – Musée del l’Hôtel-Dieu, Mantes-la-Jolie, France
2001 Good Colour : prints from Maningrida Womens Centre – Raft Artspace, Darwin
2001 Outside in: Research Engagements with Arnhem Land Art – Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
2000 Land mark : mirror mark – University of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Touring regional centres
1999 Young Kuninjku Artists – Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW
1999 Art and Place: Collecting Contemporary Art – Northern Territory University Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin, NT
1999 Bushcolour: Works on paper by female artists from the Maningrida region – Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin, NT
1999 Claiming Title: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art and the Land – Touring exhibition
Collections
Dr. Colin and Liz Laverty private collection, Sydney, NSW
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Maningrida Collection, Sydney, NSW
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
UQ Art Collection, University of Queensland, St Lucia,QLD