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.

 

>> CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SELECTION OF ARTWORKS

 

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