Judy Manany is an accomplished artist working from Elcho Island Arts, whose work practice includes painting, carving, and weaving. She is the daughter of Mithinarri Gurruwiwi, a well-known bark painter who she was very close to. Manany would watch and learn from him as they visited country and he painted.
“My name is Judy Manany Gurruwiwi. My clan is Galpu and my Moiety is Dhuwa. I learnt to make art from my father who I assisted from when I was 10 years old. I collected materials for him. We made hollow logs,
yidaki, bark paintings and carving. I learnt how to make my own art with my own ideas when my father passed away.
I was born in Yirrkala in 1962 and moved to Elcho Island in 1981. I make string bags, weaving, spears, hollow logs, painting, carving, yidaki and womera. All types of art. I paint my totems which are python, file snake (freshwater snake), water lilies and bidum (a sucker fish which attaches itself to File snakes). The dots in my work are Dhuwa patterns which represent the rainbow colours that reflect off the file snakeskin. The crosshatch patterns represent fresh water. My sister Susan also makes artwork, the same as me. She also helped our father and now she helps me with my art. My older brother (deceased) advised me on what to paint, what I am allowed to show. I have one daughter, one son, one grandson and two granddaughters and they live with me in Galiwin’ku. My children help me collect the materials for my artwork and prepare the ochre.
I started making soft sculpture animals with pandanus in 2008. I experimented with new ways of weaving to make fish, turtles, camp dog, piggy, pussy cat, echidna, and owl. Now people really like these, and we have many exhibitions with soft sculpture and carvings”.
I work as a casual Arts Workers at Elcho Island Arts. I like to teach students at the local school about art
