Victory Downs
2012
acrylic on linen
183 x 168 cm
Private Collection, Sydney
© The artist and Ninuku Arts
Sandy's incredibly raw works are renditions of his country in Victory Downs, shown in combinations of large dot-rimmed circles and undulating lines in an array of bold colours.
‘This is a story about my father’s country, Victory Downs, near Amata community. Lots of women were at this site collecting kampurapa (bush tomatoes). A man came along and asked the women for the mai (food) but the women didn’t give him any. So the man had no mai. After the man left, the women fed all the mai to the tjitji (children) until they were full. The man came back again and the group travelled together to Pangkupiri, which is near Tjukurla and close to the country where Sandy Brumby’s mother was born.’ – Sandy Brumby
Sandy Brumby
Born: c.1935 Victory Downs, SA
Yankunytjatjaralanguage group
Art Centre: Ninuku Arts, Kalka
Sandy Brumby was born in the 1930s at Victory Downs, an outstation near Pukatja (Ernabella). He grew up there and later worked as a stockman at a cattle station in the Northern Territory. After meeting his wife Nola Brumby in Ernabella they moved to Amata before finally settling in Pipalyatjara.
