Judy Gurruwiwi

Manany is an accomplished artist working from Elcho Island Arts whose work practices includes painting, carving and weaving. She is the daughter of Mithinarri Gurruwiwi a very well known bark painter who she was very close to. Manany would watch and learn from him as they visted country and he painted.
“My name is Judy Manany Gurruwiwi. My clan is Galpu and my Moiety is Dhuwa. I learnt to make art from my deceased father who I assisted from when I was 10 years old. I collected materials for him, made Hollow Logs, Yidaki, Bark Paintings and carvings with him.
I was born in Yirrkala in 1962 and moved to Elcho Island in 1981. I make string bags, weave baskets, animals and mats, I paint hollow logs and yidaki and carve sculptures from local wood. All types of art. I paint my totems which are python, file snake (fresh water snake), water lilies and bidum ( a type of fish). The dots in my work are Dhuwa patterns which represent fresh water.
I have one daughter and one son, one grandson and two granddaughter that live with me on Elcho Island. My children and grandchildren help me collect materials for my artwork, just as I did with my dad.
I started making soft sculptures animals with Pandanus in 2008. I like to experiment with new ways of weaving to make fish, turtles, piggy and owls. I have been in many exhibitions with my various forms of art.