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Description

Jack Macale Loodgengardinge Ellimbre Ungud, 2016
126 x 154cm, Acrylic on canvas

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Ungud is a snake god who is sometimes male and sometimes female.

‘Our people believe that there were two snakes that reshaped our land in the Dreamtime. One was name Ellimbre and Imintji was the other (collectively named Ungud, Ed). The figure you see in Ungud’s body. The painting is a story of a young white boy who was told not to go to our sacred site, but ignored the request. My Grandfather said that it happened back in the 1890s when white settlers moved in to our Country. He expained that people were told not to go some areas because of their significance; and how important it was to ensure uninitiated persons never visited the sites.

The spirit figure belongs to the young boy who was taken away by Ellimbre Unngud after going to the sacred site. The boy went home and soon became very very ill. My people believe that he became sick because of his wrong doing; the snake took his soul.’ – Jack Macale