Peter Newry
1939 - Jinamoon 2010- ochre on canvas
Peter Newry was born in 1939 at Newry Station and lived there until 1989. He then moved on to Ivanhoe Station after which he settled at Jarnem Police Hole, near the Keep River National Park. It wasn't until 2002 that Peter began painting on a regular basis.
Newry painted the true story and history of a land made during the Narrangnarni, the creation times. Each of his works is deeply connected to his spiritual understandings of the world. His understated and pared-back compositions are mysterious and elusive, and suggest the deep power held below the surface of country. The complexity of his work is evident in the intriguing fusion of strength and vulnerability. His elements of abstraction, gesture and uneven vulnerability of dotting in his compositions are ultimately deliberate, each serving a unique purpose.
Text courtesy of Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Kununurra
© Estate of the artist and Waringarri Aboriginal Arts