Elizabeth Kandabuma
Elizabeth Kandabuma (deceased) was born near Bulgay on Yirritjinga country. She depicted the natural world in a distinctive, lyrical and painterly style. Kandabuma worked with Bábbarra Designs, an art centre in Maningrida, since the early 1990s, and exhibited across Australia, including at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, the Australian National University, Canberra and in multiple Darwin Aboriginal Art Fairs.
Elizabeth’s design for the Bábbarra Collection, Mud Ripples.
Wak Wak in ‘Mud Flats’ [wallpaper] and Mud Ripples in ‘Wild Red Apple’ [ottoman], from the Bábbarra Collection. Photo: Martina Gemmola.
Elizabeth’s design for our Bábbarra Collection is called Mud Ripples (Kun-kirh). Mud Ripples depicts the patterns of freshwater mud ripples which emerge after strong monsoonal wet seasons on the Djinkarr and Nangak flood plains. These ripples form on the earth’s surface in delicate, repetitive and shifting patterns. The mud ripples move, crack, disappear and re-emerge in response to the changing wind, rains and new sun.
Mud Ripples in ‘Cove’, printed on our Indoor Weave.
Deborah Wurrkidj picking green plums near Mumeka homeland. Photo: Ingrid Johanson.