Mabel Juli
Gija
Skin group: Nyawurru
Ngarranggarni: Emu and Echidna
B. circa 1932, Five Mile, near Moola Boola Station
Lives and works in Warmun
Mabel Juli is a Gija Elder and senior artist currently working at Warmun Art Centre in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Juli is a strong Law and Culture woman and an important ceremonial singer and dancer.
Juli started painting in the 1980s with the encouragement of celebrated Warmun artists Queenie McKenzie, Madigan Thomas and Rover Thomas. She has created a body of work characterised by bold, minimalist compositions in natural earth pigments and charcoal, depicting subject matter informed by her detailed knowledge of the Ngarranggarni passed down from her family. Juli primarily paints Ngarranggarni relating to her country, Darrajayin. She is renowned for her depictions of Garnkiny doo Wardel (Moon and Star), which explore the subjects of forbidden love, kinship and the origins of mortality from a Gija perspective.
Juli has exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions and hundreds of group exhibitions. Her works are held in significant public and private collections throughout Australia and overseas. She is an eight-time finalist in the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Mabel Juli is represented by Warmun Art Centre, WA.