William King Jungala

William King was born in 1966 in Katherine in the Northern Territory. The artist began painting
and sketching at a young age. In 1994 he was selected among other prominent Aboriginal
artists to exhibit in ‘The Gallery of Greater Victoria’, in British Columbia, Canada, as part of
the Commonwealth Games celebrations.

William spent most of his childhood with his father and uncles, who as members of the
Gurindji tribe, taught and mentored William. His grandfather, who had travelled extensively
across the country and had a close connection with the land, passed down his stories and
vast knowledge about the desert to the younger man.

As a result, William’s work is greatly influenced by his grandfather’s teaching and he
successfully inter-mingles his own unique style and images with other art styles taken from
many locations and experiences. ‘Earth Images’ depicts William’s combined knowledge of the
physical terrain and the Dreamtime stories which relate to it. The series reflects William’s love
of his native country.

The riverbed in ‘Earth Images’ is painted from and aerial perspective and shows the winding
of the river that snakes its way through the land. This winding of the river forms the origin of
many Aboriginal stories. In the Australian bush the riverbed is often a rich source of food and
water and traditionally Aboriginal people relied heavily on the presence of the river as they
travelled across the land.

In ‘Earth Images’ William depicts campsites with concentric circles. In traditional society,
Aboriginal people were nomadic and would live in one location for as long as the environment
would sustain them. The campsite represents a meeting of the community and is often
represented in Aboriginal art.