Patrick Mung Mung

Bush Name: Nirrmarrniy / Gudgadyne

Patrick Mung Mung is a senior artist and elder at Warmun Community (Turkey Creek) in the East Kimberley in Western Australia. Patrick paints with natural earth pigments on canvas, which is a significant aspect of his art practice. Through his painting his knowledge of his country and his cultural memory of family, land and work, are powerfully related. Patrick possesses a quiet wisdom and like his late father George Mung Mung, is a strong cross-cultural communicator. Patrick’s work is influenced by the previous generation of Warmun artists including Rover Thomas and Paddy Jaminji, in its raw directness and composition.

Patrick was born at Spring Creek and worked as a stockman for many years on Texas Downs Station and the nearby stations in the East Kimberley. He was the last worker to leave Texas Downs when it closed down in the 1970s. When his father died in 1991, it fell to Patrick to accompany his father’s carving “Mary of Warmun” to Canberra for the exhibition “Aboriginal Art and Spirituality”, at the High Court of Australia. This occasion marked the beginning of a journey for Patrick, which was to see him take on his father’s role of senior artist, Law and Culture man. Patrick started painting in 1991, shortly before George passed away. Patrick was instrumental in establishing the first artist and community owned art centre at Warmun in 1998, and is currently chairperson of the Warmun Art Centre Committee.