Galah's

Aunty Christine Tschuna was born in Koonibba, a regional South Australian community northwest of Adelaide. She is a Wirangu Elder who now lives and works in Ceduna, passing on her knowledge and skill to the next generation through her daughters and granddaughters.

From a young age, Tschuna demonstrated a love for painting, but it wasn’t until the early 1980s that she began her arts career. Completely self-taught, she possesses a unique contemporary approach using bold linework and bright colours. She has exhibited in many notable galleries and art prizes including Tarnanthi (since 2018) at Art Gallery of South Australia, numerous exhibitions at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute and OUR MOB, Adelaide Festival Centre and Artspace. She held her first solo exhibition at Streaky Bay in 2019 and her work has been published Artlink magazine.

Her paintings feature native Australian wildlife in their natural habitat. Tschuna’s work is rich with symbolism and reflections of Country, including significant places with stories of the land, sky and seas, identifying waterholes, constellations, the Southern Ocean and Australian animals and birdlife. This recent new acquisition entitled Galah’s is a wonderful example of the artists talent.

The artist described,

‘In this painting there are some Galah’s resting in the tree’s that they have stripped of leaves and bark. They destroy the trees to sharpen and maintain the shape of their beak’s.’