William Sandy, © Gallery Sydney-East.com

William's painting depicts an Emu Dreaming associated with the artist's country, Kanpi, near Anmata in the northern part of South Australia. The background dotting and circular motif reflects the visual aspects of the landscape, such as sandhills and vegetation. In this painting we see the arid desert-like area that William lives in, accentuated by the background that echoes the swirling sands and vegetation. The lines in the middle of the painting represents the Dreaming track associated with the Emu Dreaming at Kunapi in Southwestern Australia. In mythological times, the Emu ancestor travelled west from Kunapi to Docker River, and then north to Kintore. Emus are a symbol of equality between males and females. After laying the eggs, the female leaves the nest, never to return. The male then "rolls" the eggs and sits on them for 54 days without food or water until the large green eggs hatch. He continues his parenting until the chicks are independent. "Emu" is the common name for members of a genus of large, flightless birds, of which only one species survives. Other than Ostriches, Emus are the largest of birds, reaching 1.8 m (6 ft) in height and 59 kg (130 lb) in weight. The wings are rudimentary and hidden beneath dull brown, hair-like body feathers; the naked parts of the head and neck are greyish-blue. Emus inhabit open plains of Australia and are capable of running at considerable speed. Eggs are incubated entirely by the male, which also cares for the chicks.

USD 5500 - [SOLD]

William Sandy is a Pitjantjatjara man who was born near Ernabella, in the far north of South Australia, some time around 1944. He attended the mission school there. He moved to Papunya in the mid 1970s where he began painting, and now lives with his family. He paints dingo, emu, woman, green bean and other Dreaming stories for his traditional country around Ernabella. He made his first paintings in 1975 after watching other artists at work, but did not become a regular painter until the 1980s when he began working with Papunya Tula. William was the first of the Pitjantjatjara involved in the contemporary art movement.