Owen Yalandja Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Owen Yalandja Art Value Price Guide

Feb. 18, 2025
Owen Yalandja, (b. 1962), Yawk Yawk, natural earth pigments on wood, height: 127 cm
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
† Owen Yalandja (b. 1962) Yawk Yawk natural earth pigments on wood
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 26, 2024
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWK YAWK, 2008
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWK YAWK, 2008 ochre and pigments with PVA fixative on carved kurrajong 210.0 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 4231-08) Private collection, Sydney This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states in part: 'The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddjenj which literally means 'the young woman who has a tail like a fish'. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bak in Kinunjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night.' © Owen Yalandja/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 10, 2023
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWKYAWK, 2001
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 2001 ochre and pigments with PVA fixative on carved kurrajong 193.0 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 1924-01) Palya Art, Darwin Private collection, Melbourne This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Palya Art. © Owen Yalandja/Copyright Agency 2023 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 20, 2023
Owen Yalandja - Yawk Yawk, 2002
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Owen Yalandja, like his brother Crusoe Kurddal, carries on his father's artistic legacy in wood carving. He lives at the camp established by his father adjacent to a billabong that is a Yirridja moiety sacred site. In the early 1990s, he experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and today paints with a much finer aesthetic on the carved wood of the kurrajong tree which has good strength across the grain, allowing him to incorporate three-dimensional carved elements without splitting the wood. "Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kuninjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to specific locations in clan estates. These mythologies are represented in bark paintings and sculptures of Yawkyawk beings. There are also a few examples of rock art images of these beings. The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the young woman who has a tail like a fish’. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bak in Kuninjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night. Aboriginal people believe that in the beginning most animals were humans. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures. Today the Kuninjku believe that Ngalkunburriyaymi are alive and well and living in freshwater sites in a number of sacred locations. Some features of a respective country are equated with body parts of Yawkyawk. For example a bend in a river or creek may be said to be ‘the tail of the Yawkyawk’, a billabong may be the ‘head of the Yawkyawk’ and so on. Thus different groups can be linked together by means of a shared mythology featured in the landscape, which crosscuts clan and language group boundaries." Text by Murray Garde and Christiane Keller
Cooee Art
Jun. 20, 2023
Owen Yalandja - Yawk Yawk, 2002
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Owen Yalandja, like his brother Crusoe Kurddal, carries on his father's artistic legacy in wood carving. He lives at the camp established by his father adjacent to a billabong that is a Yirridja moiety sacred site. In the early 1990s, he experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and today paints with a much finer aesthetic on the carved wood of the kurrajong tree which has good strength across the grain, allowing him to incorporate three-dimensional carved elements without splitting the wood. "Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kuninjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to specific locations in clan estates. These mythologies are represented in bark paintings and sculptures of Yawkyawk beings. There are also a few examples of rock art images of these beings. The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the young woman who has a tail like a fish’. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bak in Kuninjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night. Aboriginal people believe that in the beginning most animals were humans. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures. Today the Kuninjku believe that Ngalkunburriyaymi are alive and well and living in freshwater sites in a number of sacred locations. Some features of a respective country are equated with body parts of Yawkyawk. For example a bend in a river or creek may be said to be ‘the tail of the Yawkyawk’, a billabong may be the ‘head of the Yawkyawk’ and so on. Thus different groups can be linked together by means of a shared mythology featured in the landscape, which crosscuts clan and language group boundaries." Text by Murray Garde and Christiane Keller
Cooee Art
Jun. 06, 2023
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWKYAWK, 1995
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 1995 ochre and pigments with PVA fixative on carved kurrajong 125.5 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Ancient Earth Gallery, Hahndorf, South Australia Private collection, Western Australia, acquired from the above in October 2006 © Owen Yalandja/Copyright Agency 2023 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery This work is in very good, stable and near original condition. There are two minor surface marks verso, at the back of the head and upper body. Note: this work is not sold with an accompanying display stand.
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 30, 2022
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWKYAWK, 2007
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 2007 natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood 274.0 cm height PROVENANCE Chapman Gallery, Canberra Private collection, Melbourne Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 26 March 2014, lot 71 Private collection, Melbourne RELATED WORK Yawkyawk,2007, natural earth pigment and PVA fixative on kurrajong wood, 332.0 x 35.0 x 37.0 cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, illus. in Clark, D., and Jenkins, S., (eds.), Culture Warriors, National Indigenous Art Triennial 07,National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007, pp. 181 – 182 ESSAY Kuninjku artist Owen Yalandja is a senior member of the Dangkorlo clan, the custodians of an important yawkyawk site. Members of the Dangkorlo clan have established their outstation community at Barrihdjowkkeng near a billabong that is a Yirridjdja moiety sacred site for the yawk yawk spirits. Yawkyawk or young spirit ancestors live in this billabong and their shadows can occasionally be seen as they flee the smell of humans who approach the water. They are imagined to have been girls who transformed into mermaid-like figures with fish tails. The identity of the Dangkorlo clan is very much related to their yawkyawk dreaming for which they have spiritual and practical responsibility. Yalandja's repertoire is almost exclusively concerned with three dimensional representations of the yawkyawk spirits. The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in stone country. In the early 1980s, Yalandja was taught carving by his father, renowned artist Crusoe Kuningbal who in the early 1970s, invented the representation of mimih spirit in sculptural form for use in a trade ceremony called Mamurrng. Yalandja and his brother Crusoe Kurddal followed their father's legacy but over the years have found their own styles. In the early 1990s, Yalandja experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and created V shaped marks to suggest scales of the watery beings. As Yalandja says: 'I make it (yawkyawk) according to my individual ideas. My father used to decorate them with dots. A long time ago, he showed me how to do this, but this style is my own, no one else does them like this.'1 Yalandja only uses kurrajong trees for carving and carefully selects trunks which can be thin and curvilinear to give his figures a sinuous appearance. 1. Owen Yalandja in conversation with Apolline Kohen at Cadell outstation, 4 February 2007, Maningrida Arts and Culture website, viewed 25 February 2014 © Owen Yalandja/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 24, 2021
Owen Yalandja (born 1960) Yawk Yawk, 1998 height: 261.0cm (102 3/4in).
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Owen Yalandja (born 1960) Yawk Yawk, 1998 natural earth pigments on wood height: 261.0cm (102 3/4in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Apr. 22, 2021
Owen Yalandja (born 1960) Yawk Yawks heights: 180.0cm and 216.0cm (70 7/8 and 85 1/16in).
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
Owen Yalandja (born 1960) Yawk Yawks natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on carved Kurrajong wood heights: 180.0cm and 216.0cm (70 7/8 and 85 1/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jul. 15, 2020
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWKYAWK, 2006
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
THE PETER AND RENATE NAHUM COLLECTION OF ABORIGINAL ART, LONDON OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 2006 ochre and pigments with PVA fixative on carved kurrajong 209.5 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Josh Lilley Fine Art, London The Peter and Renate Nahum Collectionof Aboriginal Art, London
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 15, 2020
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWKYAWK,2006
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
THE PETER AND RENATE NAHUM COLLECTION OF ABORIGINAL ART, LONDON OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK,2006 ochre and pigments with PVA fixative on carved kurrajong 219.5 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Josh Lilley Fine Art, London The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection of Aboriginal Art, London
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 18, 2020
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWKYAWK, 2008, natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on carved kurrajong
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 2008 natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 151.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 2748–08) William Mora Galleries, Melbourne Maclean collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in August 2008 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida.
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 18, 2020
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWKYAWK, 2007, natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on carved kurrajong
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWKYAWK, 2007 natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 214.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 3045–07) William Mora Galleries, Melbourne Maclean collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in June 2008 RELATED WORK: Yawkyawk, 2007, natural earth pigment and PVA fixative kurrajong wood, 212.0 x 16.0 x 40.0 cm, private collection, illus. in Clark, D., and Jenkins, S., (eds), Culture Warriors, National Indigenous Art Triennial 07, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007, p. 182 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida.
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 09, 2019
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960)
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Two Yawkyawk Spirit Figures, natural earth pigments on carved hardwood
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jul. 09, 2019
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960)
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Two Yawkyawk Spirit Figures, natural earth pigments on carved hardwood
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 04, 2019
Â Owen Yalandja (1960-) Mimi Spirit c.2008
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Images of Mimi spirits on bark were among the first Aboriginal paintings to be collected in the early twentieth century. Baldwin Spencer made extensive collections of such bark barks, most of which are now in the Museum of Victoria collection. Although they are not considered to be ancestral beings, Mimi are credited with having taught the peoples of western Arnhem Land the arts of living; of hunting and collecting, of butchering game and cooking, dancing and singing, and even the practices of weaving and painting. In bark paintings, Mimi are often shown in scenes of ceremony or hunting and with ancestral beings. In the 1960s, Crusoe Guningbal (Alt. Kuningbal) introduced sculpted figures of Mimi for use in ceremonies for what is believed to have been the first time. This innovation on traditional practice was separate from the dictates of the art market or the public domain. The first three-dimensional Mimi figures were modest in scale, but Guningbal eventually increased the size of the sculptures to a human scale and beyond. Following his death in 1984, he passed on the exclusive right to depict Mimi's in three-dimensional form to his nephew Crusoe Gurdal (Alt. Kurddal). Owen Yalandja, like his brother Crusoe Kurddal, carries on his father's artistic legacy in wood carving. He lives at the camp established by his father adjacent to a billabong that is a Yirridja moiety sacred site. Mimi Spirits by Yalandja are relatively rare. He is now far better known for having developed the Mimi form into sculptures of the Yawkyawk sisters. In the early 1990s, he experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and today paints with a much finer aesthetic on the carved wood of the kurrajong tree which has good strength across the grain, allowing him to incorporate three-dimensional carved elements without splitting the wood.
Cooee Art
May. 21, 2019
OWEN YALANDJA, YAWK YAWK, 2000
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
OWEN YALANDJA born 1960 YAWK YAWK, 2000 natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 183.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney acquired from the above in 2000 ESSAY: This work is accompanied by documentation from Maningrida Arts that states in part: ‘Owen is the son of well-known Kininjku sculptor Crusoe Kuningbal (now deceased) and accomplished Kunibiji fibre artist and printmaker Lena Kuriniya….. Owen sculptured mimih figures until his father’s death, when he turned to Yawk Yawk figures which he now concentrates on exclusively. Yawk Yawk can be translated as ‘young female water sprit’, although the word is also used to refer to young women. They are usually depicted as having a fish like tail, akin to European mermaids. The Yawk Yawk is an important creation ancestor for the Kuninijku people.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 16, 2017
Yawk Yawk Spirits
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
Yawk Yawk in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land means Ôyoung womanÕ or Ôyoung woman spirit beingÕ. Sometimes compared to mermaids, they exist as spirit beings inhabiting freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. They are said to leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae. Aboriginal people believe that during the time of creation the Yawk Yawk travelled the country in human form. They equate some features of the country with body parts of Yawk Yawk. For example a bend in a river or creek may be said to be Ôthe tail of the Yawk YawkÕ, a billabong may be the Ôhead of the Yawk YawkÕ and so on. Thus different groups can be linked together by means of a shared mythology featured in the landscape, which crosscuts clan and language group boundaries. Yawn Yawk mythologies are represented in bark paintings, sculptures and rock art. They are most often associated with fertility sites.
Cooee Art
Apr. 13, 2017
Owen Yalandja (1960 - ) - Untitled 192 x 56.5cm
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Owen Yalandja (1960 - ) Untitled natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 192 x 56.5cm with hanging system
Lawsons
Apr. 13, 2017
Owen Yalandja (1960 - ) - Yawk Yawk 142 x 14.5cm
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Owen Yalandja (1960 - ) Yawk Yawk natural earth pigments on carved and shaped wood 142 x 14.5cm minor split middle center
Lawsons
Nov. 30, 2016
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1962, YAWK YAWK, 2008, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on carved kurrajong hardwood
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1962, YAWK YAWK, 2008, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on carved kurrajong hardwood DIMENSIONS: 170.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Arnhem Land (cat. 2747-08) William Mora Galleries, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne ESSAY: This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture.
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 30, 2016
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1962, YAWK YAWK, 2013, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong hardwood
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1962, YAWK YAWK, 2013, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong hardwood DIMENSIONS: 201.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (cat. K190) Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin The McKay Superannuation Fund Art Collection, Brisbane ESSAY: This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture that states: Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning young woman and young woman spirit being. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures.
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 06, 2016
OWEN YALANDJA (born 1960) Mimih Spirit 2007 natural earth pigments on carved wood
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
OWEN YALANDJA (born 1960) Mimih Spirit 2007 natural earth pigments on carved wood 195.5cm height PROVENANCE: Annandale Galleries, Sydney 2007 Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITIONS: Spirit in Variation: The Art of Maningrida, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, 7 November - 8 December 2007
Leonard Joel
May. 25, 2016
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2013, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong hardwood
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2013, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong hardwood DIMENSIONS: 210.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (cat. K190) Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin The McKay Superannuation Fund Art Collection, Brisbane This work is accompanied by a certificate from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning young woman and young woman spirit being. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures.
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 02, 2015
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2000, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2000, natural earth pigments on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 152.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 02, 2015
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2004, natural earth pigments and PVA fixative on carved kurrajong
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2004, natural earth pigments and PVA fixative on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 135.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida (cat. 5878-05) Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private collection, United States of America
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 02, 2015
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2004, natural earth pigments and PVA fixative on carved kurrajong
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2004, natural earth pigments and PVA fixative on carved kurrajong DIMENSIONS: 170.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida (cat. 5679-05) Raft Artspace, Darwin Private collection, United States of America
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2015
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960)
Est: $800 - $1,200
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960) Yawk Yawk, 2003 ochre pigments on wood with certificate of authenticity from Thornquest Gallery
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 10, 2015
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960)
Est: $800 - $1,200
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960) Yawk Yawk, 2003 ochre pigments on carved wood
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 06, 2015
Owen Yalandja (1962 - ) Yawk Yawk Pigments naturels et acrylique
Est: €600 - €800
Owen Yalandja (1962 - ) Yawk Yawk Pigments naturels et acrylique sur bois H : 117 cm Groupe Dangkorlo - Maningrida - Terre d'Arnhem Centrale
Millon & Associes
Mar. 08, 2015
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 1997, carved hardwood with natural earth pigments and synthetic binder
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 1997, carved hardwood with natural earth pigments and synthetic binder DIMENSIONS: 175.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, purchased in July 1997
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 26, 2014
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2006, natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
OWEN YALANDJA, born 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2006, natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood DIMENSIONS: 238.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne The female water spirits Yawk Yawkor Ngalkunburriyaymiare perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in stone country. The spirit Yawk Yawkis usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddenjwhich literally means 'the young woman who has a tail like a fish'. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bakin Kuninjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night.
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2014
OWEN YALANDJA 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2007, natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
OWEN YALANDJA 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2007, natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood DIMENSIONS: 274.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Chapman Gallery, Canberra Private collection, Melbourne ESSAYS: Kuninjku artist Owen Yalandja is a senior member of the Dangkorlo clan, the custodians of an important yawk yawk site. Members of the Dangkorlo clan have established their outstation community at Barrihdjowkkeng near a billabong that is a Yirridjdja moiety sacred site for the yawk yawk spirits. Yawk yawk or young spirit ancestors live in this billabong and their shadows can occasionally be seen as they flee the smell of humans who approach the water. They are imagined to have been girls who transformed into mermaid-like figures with fish tails. The identity of the Dangkorlo clan is very much related to their yawk yawk dreaming for which they have spiritual and practical responsibility. Yalandja's repertoire is almost exclusively concerned with three dimensional representations of the yawk yawk spirits. The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in stone country. In the early 1980s, Yalandja was taught carving by his father, renowned artist Crusoe Kuningbal who in the early 1970s, invented the representation of mimih spirit in sculptural form for use in a trade ceremony called Mamurrng. Yalandja and his brother Crusoe Kurddal followed their father's legacy but over the years have found their own styles. In the early 1990s, Yalandja experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and created V shaped marks to suggest scales of the watery beings. As Yalandja says: 'I make it (yawk yawk) according to my individual ideas. My father used to decorate them with dots. A long time ago, he showed me how to do this, but this style is my own, no one else does them like this.'1 Yalandja only uses kurrajong trees for carving and carefully selects trunks which can be thin and curvilinear to give his figures a sinuous appearance. 1. Owen Yalandja in conversation with Apolline Kohen at Cadell outstation, 4 February 2007, Maningrida Arts and Culture website, , viewed 25 February 2014
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 27, 2013
Owen Yalandja 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2006 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on carved and shaped hardwood
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
Owen Yalandja 1960, YAWK YAWK, 2006 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on carved and shaped hardwood DIMENSIONS: 218.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (cat. 2195-06) William Mora Galleries, Melbourne Private collection, United States of America RELATED WORKS: Yawk Yawk, 2007, collection of the National Gallery of Australia, illus. in Clark, D., and Jenkins, S. (eds), Culture Warriors, National Indigenous Art Triennial 07, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007, p. 181 ESSAY: Kuninjku artist Owen Yalandja is a senior member of the Dangkorlo clan, the custodians of an important yawk yawk site. Members of the Dangkorlo clan have established their outstation community at Barrihdjowkkeng near a billabong that is a Yirridjdja moiety sacred site for the yawk yawk spirits. Yawk yawk or young spirit girls live in this billabong and their shadows can occasionally be seen as they flee the smell of humans who approach the water. They are imagined to have been girls who transformed into mermaid-like figures with fish tails. The identity of the Dangkorlo clan is very much related to their yawk yawk dreaming for which they have spiritual and practical responsibility. Yalandja's repertoire is almost exclusively concerned with three dimensional representations of the yawk yawk spirits. The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in stone country. In the early 1980s, Yalandja was taught carving by his father, renowned artist Crusoe Kuningbal who in the early 1970s, invented the representation of mimih spirit in sculptural form for use in a trade ceremony called Mamurrng. Yalandja and his brother Crusoe Kurddal followed their father's legacy but over the years have found their own styles. In the early 1990s, Yalandja experimented with the dot patterns his father taught him, and created V shaped marks to suggest scales of the watery beings. As Yalandja says: 'I make it (yawkyawk) according to my individual ideas. My father used to decorate them with dots. A long time ago, he showed me how to do this, but this style is my own, no one else does them like this.'1 Yalandja only uses kurrajong trees for carving and carefully selects trunks which can be thin and curvilinear to give his figures a sinuous appearance. 1. Owen Yalandja in conversation with Apolline Kohen at Cadell outstation, 4 February 2007, Maningrida Arts and Culture, http://www.maningrida.com/mac-artists/owen-yalandja, accessed 31 October 2013
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 14, 2013
Owen Yalandja (1960 -) - Yawk Yawk h. 137cm
Est: $800 - $1,200
Owen Yalandja (1960 -) Yawk Yawk natural earth pigments on hardwood h. 137cm #6657
Lawsons
Oct. 17, 2013
Owen Yalandja (1960 -) - Yawk Yawk h. 137cm
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Owen Yalandja (1960 -) Yawk Yawk natural earth pigments on hardwood h. 137cm #6657
Lawsons
Mar. 19, 2013
OWEN YALANDJA (BORN 1960-) Yawk Yawk Spirit Figure 2006 natural earth pigments on carved timber
Est: $800 - $1,200
OWEN YALANDJA (BORN 1960-) Yawk Yawk Spirit Figure 2006 natural earth pigments on carved timber 126cm (height) OTHER NOTES Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts & Culture, NT, cat. no. '851-06'
Leonard Joel
Dec. 01, 2012
Owen Yalandja Mimih Pigments naturels et acrylique
Est: €700 - €900
Owen Yalandja Mimih Pigments naturels et acrylique sur bois - 170 cm Groupe Dangkorlo - Maningrida - Terre d'Arnhem Centrale
Millon & Associes
Nov. 20, 2012
Owen Yalandja (b. 1960). Yawk Yawk (Girl Figure) Spirit, 2005
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
height 53in (135cm) Natural earth pigments on carved Kurrajong wood Provenance: Maningrida Arts & Culture, Central/Western Arnhem Land Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private American Collection Owen Yalandja is a Kuninjku artist, senior member of his Dangkorlo clan and custodian of the important Yawk Yawk site. The sculpture represents a mythological figure of a "young woman" spirit, who lives in the water and is transformed into a mermaid like figure with fish tails. YawkYawk shadows are thought to be seen flying away from humans who come near. Owen Yalandja is a Kuninjku artist, senior member of his Dangkorlo clan and custodian of the important Yawk Yawk site. Only wood from the Kurrajung tree is used to provide a distinctive shape to Owen Yalandja's work.
Bonhams
May. 19, 2012
YALANDJA, Owen (b.1960). Yawkyawk Water Spirit,
Est: $800 - $1,200
YALANDJA, Owen (b.1960). Yawkyawk Water Spirit, 1993. Maningrida Arts & Culture descriptive certificate verso. Catalogue #YALA9/793. With accompanying DVD of Yawkyawk legend.. Ochre Pigment on Stringy Bark93x58cm
Davidson Auctions
Jun. 15, 2011
Owen Yalandja Kunninjku - Mimih spirit figure
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
Owen Yalandja Kunninjku - Mimih spirit figure Natural earth pigments on wood
Mossgreen Auctions
May. 18, 2011
OWEN YALANDJA YAWK YAWK, 2007 200.0 cm height
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
OWEN YALANDJA YAWK YAWK, 2007 200.0 cm height natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 21, 2010
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2008 natural earth
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2008 natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood 238.0 cm height
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 21, 2010
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2006 natural earth
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2006 natural earth pigments on carved and shaped hardwood 235.0 cm height
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 14, 2009
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2004 natural earth
Est: $3,500 - $4,500
OWEN YALANDJA Yawk Yawk, 2004 natural earth pigments on carved softwood 217.0 cm height
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 20, 2009
Owen Yalandja born 1960 YAWK YAWK SPIRIT FIGURES natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on kurrajong wood
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on kurrajong wood Quantity: 4
Sotheby's
Oct. 31, 2006
OWEN YALANDJA
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
BORN 1960 YAWKYAWK FRESHWATER MERMAID SPIRIT 2001 height: 244 cm Wood, natural earth pigments PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Arnhem Land Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private collection, USA
Sotheby's

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