Lofty Nadjamerrek : Master of oenpelli

Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek Style

The high quality, intensity, and fineness of his parallel line hatching often distinguish Lofty’s work. He painted on Rectangular bark with either a red or Black background. Lofty Nadjamerrek does not use crosshatching but like Dick Murramurra preferred fine parallel line work. He usually shows the internal organs and spine on his figures and animals. This is the traditional way of showing that these are not mere pictures but real beings. His depictions of animals often have a sinuous grace that gives them a sense of movement.

Lofty did not attend a European school. Instead, he developed deep traditional knowledge. He was a guardian to many Western Arnhem Land customary stories. Lofty was initiated to the full complement of western Arnhem Land ceremonies. He was a much-respected traditional leader. Nadjamerrek also did much of his later work on paper. These paintings are collectible but I prefer his barks. Some of the most desirable of these later works on Paper depict the major Western Arnhem Land ceremonies.

He began commercially bark painting for the market at Oenpelli in 1969. Many of his bark paintings depict different animal species from western Arnhem Land. These include kangaroos, echidnas, crocodiles, birds, turtles and fish (Barramundi and catfish)

Biography

Compared to other Arnhem Land aboriginal artists Lofty Nadjamerrek was prolific. He is well represented in museums and collections. In the sheer number of works, he is only second to Yirawala. The length of his career, the sheer quantity of works means he was and still is highly sort after by collectors. Lofty’s paintings also have a certain European aesthetic. They are not as guttural as earlier painters like Djambalula or Diidja. Some of his later works on Paper and card are not covered in this article

Lofty Nadjamerrek is the only Aboriginal Artist to receive the Order Of Australia. This is the highest level of recognition in Australia. He passed away in 2009. His passing marked the end of an era of earlier Oenpelli Arnhem land bark painting.

Nadjamerrek was married, with five daughters and three sons. Unfortunately, none of his children followed in their father’s footsteps to take his place as a painter of exquisite barks. He painted throughout his life. In his last years, it was slow work due to his failing eyesight, caused by Trachoma.

Lofty rock art paintings of a kangaroo, emu, goats, and a horse and rider still survive in rock shelters today. They are at Kodwalehwaleh in Arnhem Land.

Lofty was also known as Nabadayal  Bardayal or Nabardayal

Rainbow Serpent

Lofty is particularly well known for his images of  Namarrkon the lightning spirit and Ngalyod the rainbow serpent. His bark painting can capture the transformational powers of these beings.

There are three known Rainbow Serpents in western Arnhem Land. The most powerful one is the Jingana, the Mother Serpent, who lives either underground or in lagoons covered in waterlilies.

In earliest times Jingana became dissatisfied with the shapes of the inhabitants populating the area. Creatures were half human, half bird, fish or animal. So she swallowed everything and then regurgitated them in the forms they bear today.

Then she grew two eggs in her belly, and eventually gave birth to a son and a daughter. The son, Ngalyod, had the head of a crocodile, the body and tail of a serpent. The daughter, Ngalgunburijaimi, also had a crocodile head and serpent body, but the tail ended in a fish tail. Both the son and the daughter had bony protuberances like a hump in their chest, and spurs like feathered streamers growing from their head.

Ngalgunburijaimi

It is the daughter rainbow serpent, Ngalgunburijaimi, who is featured in this painting.

The three rainbow serpents are much feared, and all are given due respect in sacred ceremonies, to keep them even-tempered. Because if they become angry they are quite capable of swallowing people who break the law. During the dry season the serpents stay sheltered in their waterlily billabongs, but at the beginning of the wet they sit up on the stormclouds which they have created from the vapour from their mouths. Thunder rolls across the skies as they growl, forked lightning is caused by their flicking tongues and when the same tongues prick the stormclouds, torrential rain descends over Arnhem Land.

If they are angry, however, they can create storms in the dry season and so destroy the balance of seasons. Aboriginals take great care not to incur their wrath and keep well away from billabongs where they know the serpents live. For if they go close they could destroy the cabbage tree palms growing on the banks and so destroy the food which the serpents live on.

Lofty Nadjamerrek Images

The following images are not a complete list of the artists works. They do however give a good idea of his style and variety