Lorrkkon – Marilyn James

Marilyn’s first screen print design depicts the story of lorrkkon (hollow funeral logs). This the story of her great, great grandfather and grandmother who were bark painters, as well as also sacred lorrkkon painters.

When designing this screen print, Marilyn was remembering her childhood living in a small house on Liverpool river Ngar-wunja (Thompson hole) with other families.

Through the painting process, Marilyn remembered and relived the times when people still lived permanently on remote homelands, living off the land before balanda (non-indigenous people) arrived.

Marilyn recalls “it makes me think back, we did lots of things, some people was hunting, some was weaving, some was painting barks and lorrkkon. As my great, great grandfather and grandmother was painters, I painted this my story for them.”