Regina Karadada

Gyorn Gyorn (also spelled as Gwion Gwion) is the call of one of the birds in the Kimberley – the sandstone shrike-thrush. Once these figures were thought by the Aboriginal people to had been created by this little bird pecking at the rock walls until its beak bled. Now they are recognised has having been painted by todays Aboriginal peoples forebears. They are commonly known as the Bradshaw figures after Joseph Bradshaw who got lost in the Kimberley while looking for cattle grazing country in 1891. He found some of these figures on a rock wall of a cave and sketched them. Their eloquent flowing nature makes this ancient art form captivating and are a wonder to discover in the Kimberley bush. The late Grahame Walsh spent a lot of his life researching these figures and compiled 2 books specifically about these Bradshaw figures – both now highly collectible and valuable books. This etching was created by Regina Karadada during a workshop at Kalumburu in March 2009 that was organised by Martin King of the Australian Print Workshop in Melbourne.