2025 Muswellbrook Art Prize

Funggli

Helen Tyalmuty McCarthy

Funggli, 2024 acrylic on linen 180 x 90 cm

'Funggli' – Gathering Bush Honey. At the start of the Dry, we care for Country by performing Burn Offs. When termite mounds are burned, we gather bush honey, a simpler task than collecting from trees, no axes needed. The men also collect wax from inside the mounds, used around didgeridoo mouthpieces. The white in the painting represents the ash from the Dry, while the orange symbolizes the internal patterns of the mounds, where both honey and wax are found.