“His paintings frequently show soak holes, rockholes and claypans associated with the area. These are believed to have been formed during the Tjukurrpa or Dreamtime and hold significance that is explained in Men’s Ceremonies. Mick is an important rain man and keeper of the Law. The painting shows the flow of water through the country and its connections at various watering points. We see a significant creek in the centre of the painting. There are also more claypans (Warran) and billabongs depicted around the edges of the painting. This is Mick’s father’s country as he told the stories of the country to his son (Matthew Gill). Source Warlayirti Artists.
Mick Gill, a Kukatja speaker, was born Circa. 1920 and died in 2002 after witnessing extraordinary changes to his Traditional life following the arrival of non Indigenous people, (Kartiya). A quiet man with a broad smile he was married to Susie Bootja Napaltjarri. They both painted at the Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills) community Art Centre, Warlayirti Artists in Western Australia. He spoke the Kukatja language and was one of a serious group of senior law men who would sit separately from the women, bowing over with intensity to ‘paint the story right’. Helen Read