Lot 6

Mornington Island Art, Queensland (accompanied by a certificate of authenticity)
Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne

Born in Mirdidingki, on the South side of Bentinck Island, Sally Gabori lived a traditional lifestyle deeply connected to her Indigenous roots. In the early 1940s, the Kaiadilt people were relocated to Mornington Island by Presbyterian missionaries due to severe drought and a cyclone. Despite this displacement, Gabori maintained a strong attachment to her birthplace, cherishing childhood memories and the stories connected to her ancestral homeland.
Located near the northern tip of Bentinck Island, Thundi is Gabori's fathers Country, an area sitting over a river running parallel to a ridge of tall sandhills along its northeastern coast. During the wet season a large salt pan would mark the river's boundary, while in the dry season, mangroves trace its outline in green. To the north, the river opens out onto a vast mud flat, revealing sandbars during low tide.
Many of Gabori's early paintings of her father's Country were centred on this river area. Gabori applies her brushstrokes in circular motions emphasising the importance of this crucial fishing area at the river's mouth. In My Father's Country 2006, Gabori uses vivid colours to represent various fish species, her favourite fish the snapper is represented in yellow, while the blue suggests the Ngarrawurda (bluefish). Applied with varying movement, Gabori's brushstrokes indicate the abundance of the fish at Thundi and the area's significance as a vital fishing ground for the Kaiadilt people. Layering a vibrant palette of blues, reds, yellow and black, Gabori's works are renowned for their boldness in colour and design. Perhaps a result of cultural isolation from Island life, Gabori's visual interpretations of her land have been completely uninfluenced, allowing her to express her story in an entirely unique way. Her thick abstract-like paint strokes and elaborate use of colour quickly became the powerful force within her oeuvre and likely one of the reasons her works have become so recognisable within the Indigenous art market and contemporary art globally.
Gabori began painting in her eighties, with her artworks becoming an important medium for expressing the intimate connection she had with the meaningful sites of Bentinck Island throughout her lifetime. Her unique approach to the canvas creates a visual memory and map of Bentinck Island from her childhood, preserving the cultural heritage and natural richness of her ancestral land. Capturing the attention of the international art world, she represented Australia in the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. Today her works are held in permanent collections such as the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris, the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and in various state galleries across the country.
Lucy Foster
Senior Specialist, Fine Art


"My painting shows a waterhole on my Father's Country on Bentinck Island", The Artist
As stated on the Mornington Island Art certificate of authenticity

© Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2023