wurrandan-marawili
Homeland: Yilpara
Clan: Maḏarrpa
Moiety: Yirritja
Wurrandan is a member of the Maḏarrpa Clan group and is a founding member and lead singer and dancer for Garraŋali band from Yilpara.
He is the son of Bakulaŋay Marawili (father) whose unique works formed a significant part of the Saltwater Collection at the National Maritime Museum.
He came to the attention of the Art Centre in 2017 and his individual style of intensely fine marwat, inventive palette and innovative composition culminated in a work which was shared on Instagram and seen by staff of a major institution who ended up acquiring it.
A finalist in NATSIAA 2019, his work was selected to be part of a major exhibition touring the USA in 2021. In 2021 he was one of the featured artists in Murrŋiny. He continued to develop his art style in the medium of metal and undertook welding training through Buku which allowed him to create in three dimensions. A personal tragedy saw the death of his wife and the mother of his two children in 2022 but he was able to continue to make art through this period as a solace.
A major sculptural work was acquired by the NGV from the NATSIAA exhibition of 2023. In 2024 he travelled to the USA to open the Maḏayin exhibition in Charlottesville, Virginia.
In August 2024 Wurrandan was a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. His entry Rumbal, the body/the truth was awarded the Telstra Bark Painting Award. The same week, his first solo exhibition Giliŋur Djuluḻ’yun- Hidden in the Ripples opened at Outstation Gallery in Darwin.
Wurrandan is one of the first Yolŋu artists to design and construct large and medium scale contemporary metal and found object sculpture, these sculptures reference Wurrandan’s Maḏarrpa Clan identity and have been acquired by significant national institutions and international private collections, one of these works titled ‘Gamata – the fire under the sea’ was featured in the ground breaking exhibition Yolŋu Power – The art of Yirrkala at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney which Wurrandan assisting in ceremonially opening in 2025.
