aussie dogs

Among the works entered in 2001 for the National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition sponsored by the National Gallery of Australia, I found a silver dog family.

Lena Yarinkura, an Aboriginal artist, had this to say about making them:

This work [for the sculpture prize]1 is about my own dogs. Manmunj, the oldest
female dog, was looking for a mate and found that Garlang-ngartba, the boss dog,
was interested in her. You can see him smelling her tail. There are two other
male dogs looking at Garlang-ngartba; one is lying on his belly - his name is
Arngurduppu, and the other, called Gurrwerhgurrwerh, is lying on his side. These
dogs are upset, as there is no chance for them with Manmunj. There is a girl dog
watching too, called Werlemberlh. She has her head down. I think she's jealous
and is wishing she were Manmunj.

"I make a lot of dogs," she adds, "because the dog is my Dreaming. It's important for me." By which she means the dog defines her beliefs as an individual; other native Australians may have Kangaroo Dreaming or Shark Dreaming. More than that, though, the Dreaming also refers to the time before time, and the general laws of human life. Some references here.