Owen Yalandja

Quick Facts

Full Name	Owen Yalandja
Occupation	Artist
Date Of Birth	Dec 31, 1961(1961-12-31)
Age	63
Birthplace	Maningrida
Country	Australia
Horoscope	Capricorn

Owen Yalandja Biography

Owen Yalandja is one of the most popular and richest Artist who was born on December 31, 1961 in Maningrida, Australia.

Born in 1961, Owen Yalandja belongs to the Kuninjku people within Maningrida (Northern Territory of Central Arnhem Land). He is now a senior member of the Dangkorlo clan, which means that he has the responsibility to be custodians of a yawkyawk site (Yirridjdja moiety) in the Mirrayar billabong. Yawkyawk are female water spirits, similar to the Western mermaids. However, they are more than a mystical creature; to the Kuninjku people, yawkyawks are manifestations of their young female ancestors. These female water spirits can be disturbed or frightened by humans, causing them to retreat or escape into the Mirrayar billabong, Yalandja’s custodian site.

Owen Yalandja (born 1961) is Aboriginal Australian carver, painter and singer of the Kuninjku people from western Arnhem Land, Australia. A senior member of the Dangkorlo clan, who are the Indigenous custodians of an important site related to female water spirits known as yawkyawk, Yalandja has become internationally renowned for his painted carvings of these spirits, as well as his paintings on eucalyptus bark.

Owen Yalandja Net Worth

Owen Yalandja is one of the richest Artist from Australia. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Owen Yalandja 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Owen Yalandja was known for his singing at the yawkyawk ceremonies, as well as his carved representations of the yawkyawk spirits. Yalandja learned the foundations of his carving techniques from his father, Crusoe Kuningbal. Kuningbal was a renowned ceremonial leader, bark painter, and carver. In the 1960s, he began experimenting and inventing new ways to carving and sculpt mimih spirits. Until the 1980s, Kuningbal was the only Maningrida artist who could carve the mimih spirits. His artwork held ceremonial and sacred meanings, and they were used in a public Kuninjky ceremony called Mamurrng. It is Aboriginal tradition that an artist like Kuningbal will teach the next generation of male artists how to produce similar artwork and the meaning behind it; Yalandja and his brother, Cruose Kurddal, both learned from their father the skills and techniques needed to make these kinds of figures. It wasn’t until after Kuningbal’s death in 1984 that Yalandja and Kurddal began making large figure carvings themselves. Kurddal’s style remained similar to his fathers, using the same red painted background and dot pattern. Kuningbal’s original style can be seen replicated in Kurddal’s Mimih spirit (1985), shown in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Yalandja, on the other hand, began experimenting and expanding beyond his father’s teachings; he created new styles, techniques, and content.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Owen Yalandja height Not available right now. J. weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Owen Yalandja Dating?

According to our records, Owen Yalandja is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Owen Yalandja’s is not dating anyone.

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While he is best known for his carvings on the kurrajob tree, Yalandja has also painted yawkyawks on eucalyptus barks and hollow-log coffins (known as lorrkkon). Lorrkkon hold human skeletal remains, not the entire body, and are made for both commercial art reasons as well as ceremonial reasons. When made for the art market, the artist is able to choose what to paint on the hollow- logs, making them more like painted sculptures, carvings, or three-dimensional bark art. Yalandja created lorrkkon for art market, painting the log with the same technique he created for the scales of the yawkyawks. This pattern itself does not hold sacred meaning, thus is it considered “outside” and “non- representational; however, any clan member or person with knowedlge of Kuninjku customs will understand that this design represents the scales of the yawkyawk spirit. One example of this kind of lorrkkin is his Ndalkodjek Yawkyawk made in 2017 (157.5 cm).

Facts & Trivia

J. Ranked on the list of most popular Artist. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Australia. Owen Yalandja celebrates birthday on December 31 of every year.