MULGA TREE DREAMING

Clifford Tilmouth Pengarte

Clifford paints elements of the Mulga Tree Dreaming. This is a very important story for Clifford that belongs to his country, Atoola. This story, its songs, dances, and symbols have been passed down to Clifford from his ancestors.

In his paintings, the concentric circles represent the mulga tree which is located in his country. Parallel, wavy and/or singular lines stemming from the concentric circles represent what Clifford calls ‘dreaming lines’ that lead to Ilkawerne country nearby. Small ‘U’ shapes and white dots represent honey flowers. Other dot work represents ilbulla (seeds from the Mulga tree).