Yinjaa Barni

Yinjaa-Barni Art is a collective of Aboriginal artists who predominantly belong to the Yindjibarndi language group and whose ancestral homelands surround the Fortescue River and Millstream Tablelands.

Based in Roebourne, a small town in Western Australia’s Pilbara region of the north-west of the state, the Yinjaa-Barni artists create deeply personal works of collective memory, rendering the wildflowers, river systems and landforms of their country onto canvas. It is a community group consisting of predominantly family members and has become a very busy and lively centre. Within the first few months of the formation of the group around ten of the artists entered works in the 2006 Cossack Art Award. They received five Highly Commendable awards and a Category Winner by group member Jill Tucker.

Individual group members have been recognised in some of Western Australia’s leading awards and galleries. Yindjibarndi edler Clifton Mack (deceased) is a five time Winner of the Cossack Art Award and twice Outright Winner. In 2007 Allery Sandy and Maudie Jerrold were both Category Winners at the Cossack Art Award.

In 2006 and 2007 the Art gallery of Western Australia acquired three paintings by Clifton Mack. The group continued to grow; at the end of 2007 they became incorporated and were successful in securing central and spacious premises at the heritage-listed Dalgety House in the Shire of Roebourne. As well as a partnership with Rio Tinto for twelve months funding for the group.

The new premises was officially opened in 2008, and the relocation has provided the group with better exposure to the public and the community. Works from Yinjaa Barni artists have been featured in a number of corporate publications, including Rio Tinto’s Milli Milli magazine and Australian Geographic Magazine. In 2008 the group came away with six Category Winners at the Cossack Art Award, including the Overall Winner by emerging artist Wendy Darby.

Since the beginning and throughout the group’s painting career I have asked the artists what it means to them to be able to paint. Their answer has been that it provides a great sense of pride in knowing what they have achieved, and knowing that their families are very proud of them. For the older members of the group it is also about painting what is close to their hearts: their country, their culture and the plants of the region. Painting allows them to teach the younger members through storytelling, in particular to teach about the local plants and their uses. The Yinjaa Barni Art Centre is a very important part of the economic reality of Yindjibarndi. It has provided a crucial income source for the artists and families involved. The quality of the work bodes well for the future.

Patricia Floyd,
Art Coordinator
Yinjaa Barni Art

View Available Works

Artworks

ALLERY SANDY - Pilbara Wild lower Country

MELISSA SANDY - 'Autumn Leaves' (6044-22)

MELISSA SANDY – 'Sturt Pea' (6045-22)

Aileen Sandy – Colours of the Pilbara Rocks (6288-22)

AILEEN SANDY - 'Jiirda (Increasing Site)'

RODNEY ADAMS - 'Pyramid Boundary'

MAUDIE JERROLD - 'Yilyway'

ALLERY SANDY - 'Marni'

AILEEN SANDY - 'Colours Through the Rocks'

AILEEN SANDY - 'Colours through the Rocks'

MARLENE HAROLD - 'Country Bluebells'

RENEE WALLY - 'Binyirrinha Munda at night full moon'

MELISSA SANDY - 'My Design'

MAUDIE JERROLD – 'The Seagulls and the Cormack Birds (5990-21)'

MELISSA SANDY – 'Sturt Pea' (5962-21)

MAUDIE JERROLD - 'My Country Landscape' (5991-21)

RENEE WALLY – 'Pilbara Hills' (5956-21)

DAWN SANDY - Pilbara Wildflowers (5456-20)

MARLENE HARROLD – Country bluebells (5514-20)

AILEEN SANDY - Colours of the Rocks (5583-20)

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse)

MAUDIE JERROLD - Saltbush Flowers

CLIFTON MACK - Lighthouse Series

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse)

MELISSA SANDY - Becoming One (3703-15)

MELISSA SANDY - Mt Florence Stockyard

MAUDIE JERROLD - Coolabah Seed

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse)

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse) #2

MAUDIE JERROLD - Coolabah Seeds

MAUDIE JERROLD - Coolabah Seeds #2

CLIFTON MACK - Lighthouse Series

MARLENE HAROLD - Early Morning Mist

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse) II

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse) I

MARLENE HAROLD - Early Morning Mist

MAUDIE JERROLD - Yiliway (Rainbow)

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island Lighthouse I

WENDY DARBY - Country II

AILEEN SANDY - Jiirda (Increasing Site)

WENDY DARBY - Red Dust

MAUDIE JERROLD - Seeds

Jarman Lighthouse

Jarman Lighthouse Sunset

CLIFTON MACK - Limestone (detail)

MAUDIE JERROLD - Yiliway

MAUDIE JERROLD – Fireworks

ALLERY SANDY – Coral Reef

MAUDIE JERROLD – Emu Seed

CLIFTON MACK – Fortescue Hills

ALLERY SANDY – In The Beginning

MAUDIE JERROLD – The Mulga Leaf

CLIFTON MACK – Eagle Feathers

Installations

Yinjaa Barni #1

Yinjaa Barni #2

Yinjaa Barni #3

Yinjaa Barni #4

Paintings from the Pilbara

Paintings from the Pilbara #2

Paintings from the Pilbara #3

Paintings from the Pilbara #4

Paintings from the Pilbara #5

Paintings from the Pilbara #6

AILEEN SANDY – 'Colours of the Rocks' (3 panels)

CLIFTON MACK - Jarman Island (Lighthouse)

Yinjaa Barni

Yinjaa Barni #2

Yinjaa Barni #3

Yinjaa Barni #4

Yinjaa Barni #5

CV

Exhibitions

2021

Paintings from the Pilbara

2017

Maudie Jerrold: 'Yiliway'

2016

Jasper Knight and Clifton Mack,

. . .

Group Exhibitions

2016

Clifton Mack, Lighthouses with Jasper Knight, Chalk Horse, Sydney

2015

Yinjaa Barni, Chalk Horse, Sydney

2014

Yinjaa Barni, Melbourne Art Fair 2014

. . .

Awards & Prizes

2009

Landscape, Oil or Acrylic

2008

Winner Invited Artist, Cossack Art Awards

2007

Overall Winner, Cossack Art award

. . .

Collections

Art Gallery of Western Australia

Vitali Gallery, Florence Italy

Exhibitions

All / Current / Upcoming / Past

Yinjaa Barni

Artworks

Installations

CV

Exhibitions

Colours of the Pilbara

Paintings from the Pilbara

Yinjaa Barni

Melbourne Art Fair 2014 - Stand: E101

Yinjaa Barni (2011)

Yinjaa Barni Project