JamFactory’s annual ICON exhibition celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media. Kunmanara (Pepai) Carroll (1950–2021) was a Luritja/Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara artist who worked at Ernabella Arts at Pukatja in the APY Lands.

Concerned with passing on cultural knowledge, his paternal homeland was an unwavering source of inspiration and the recurring subject within his oeuvre of painting and ceramic sculpture.

JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) is a major solo exhibition which showcases a significant body of Carroll’s final ceramic works and paintings supported by a tapestry produced by the Australian Tapestry Workshop. This exhibition is accompanied by a major monograph publication (co-published by JamFactory and Wakefield Press) and is touring to 12 venues nationally until mid-2024.

JamFactory has had a long association with Ernabella Arts, and were instrumental in the foundational years of the Pukutja Pottery. Kunmanara Carroll was a leading artist and a respected elder from the Pukutja community. He is survived by his wife Alison Milyika Carroll who remains a respected senior within the community. Kunmanara Carroll is the first Aboriginal artist to be featured in the JamFactory ICON series since its inception in 2013.

Carroll’s captivating paintings and ceramics merge his deep knowledge of country with his beautifully intricate yet minimalist style. In 2017, a creative project titled Mark and Memory saw Carroll return to his grandmother’s and father's Country, Carroll’s custodial country near Kintore (NT) and Kiwirrkura (WA). This was the first time he had returned to these custodial lands since leaving the region. On this trip he travelled with fellow Ernabella artist Derek Jungarrayi Thompson visiting sites between Kintore, Kiwirrkura, and Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay).

The major subjects that Carroll returns to are; Walungurru the sand-dune country of his Father’s Country, near Kintore in the Northern Territory – the paintings and ceramics of Walungurru feature Wanampi the water serpent; Ininti which refers in contour and colour range to the desert bean tree and its environment – the Ininti tree is prevalent in the Kintore region, and; Yumari a site located west of Walungurru, Yumari literally means mother in law in Luritja; and rocky country of Ilpili.

JamFactory Icon 2021 Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) is a JamFactory touring exhibition. JamFactory Icon 2021 Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) has been assisted by the South Australian Government through the Department for Innovation and Skills and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, Contemporary Touring Initiative. Ernabella Arts and the Carroll family gratefully acknowledge support from the Government of South Australia through Arts SA and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council for the Arts and the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) program.

Related Events

• Friends of MAG&M and Volunteers' exhibition preview: Fri 21 Apr, 10am - 11am. Free event. RSVP
• Exhibition Opening: Fri 21 Apr, 6pm - 8pm. Free event. RSVP