1 in stock
- Artist: Jessica Lloyd
- Title: Giant Emu in the Sky
- Size: 61 x 86cm
- Region: West Kimberley & Mullewa WA
- Language Groups: Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl, Yawuru, Yamatji & Noongar
- Homeland: Nudagun
The Giant Emu in the Sky
My nanna always shows me how the stars tell us about the lifecycle of the emu. By Looking at the giant emu in the sky she can tell when it is mating season and when the male emus are sitting on the eggs. This painting shows the giant emu in the sky during the mating season.
Pop Jonathon is my nanna Faye’s brother. When pop Jonathon lived with us (my mum, dad, my sisters and me) he also taught us about the giant emu in the sky. Pop Jonathon calls our mum his daughter and us girls are his grannies. Pop Jonathon is a Ngangkari, a desert healer and the giant emu in the sky is his totem. He gave us his story and taught us to paint all the different parts of the story, even how paint the leaves of the giant tree and the spears.
When my great nanna, nanna lily, was pregnant she was eating emu with her family, and she became very sick. Soon after pop Jonathon was born and he was born with a large round birth mark on his shoulder, right where the spear had killed the emu. That is why nanna lily was sick when eating the emu and this is why the giant emu is pop Jonathon’s totem.
In the dreaming, a giant emu travelled through the country eating the people. To kill the giant emu a magic warrior made his special spears and he put on his head band and body paint. He left with his dingo and went looking for the giant emu. When he found where the emu was living, he hid in the only large tree that he could find and waited for the emu to walk past. The warrior killed the giant emu and the emus blood turned into a river before soaking into the ground and turning into gold. The giant emu’s body turned into the hills and mountains, and his spirit went up to the sky in the milky way, where we can still see him today.
Jessica Lloyd
Jessica is a young artist, who grew up surrounded by a large family of artists. She is the granddaughter of Kevin Parriman/Dixon, a Jabirr Jabirr/Ngumbarl and Yawuru saltwater man from the West Kimberley who is a storyteller and carver. Kevin is known for crafting boomerangs using techniques taught to him by one of his grandfathers. She is also the granddaughter Faye Parriman nee Anderson/Ryder a Yamatji and Noongar artist from the desert and wildflower country in Western Australia. Jessica’s mum Natasha Lloyd (nee Parriman), an award-winning artist, has had her work feature in group and solo exhibitions. Both her older sisters have had art feature in exhibitions with her eldest sister having a solo show “Nan's Everlasting Memories” in 2022.
Jessica has a deep connection to her homeland at Nudagun in her pop’s country, spending time learning the places and stories in her Jabirr Jabirr & Yawuru Country. She has grown up painting with her nan and learning stories of growing up in the wildflower and desert country. In 2010, her nan returned to country taking 2 cars, 2 daughters, and 6 grandchildren to experience the wildflowers on Yamatji country. Visiting the amazing wildflowers and beautiful country bought her nan’s stories to life and left a huge impression on Jessica and her art.
Jessica’s art blends her saltwater and desert art styles together to create unique pieces. Her more recent work has been focusing on her nan’s stories in the wildflower country and the sky country stories of her grandparents.
