Laarri Art Centre

Wayne Wallaby was born in Derby in 1964. He grew up on Margaret River Station, 20kms from Yiyili. Wayne attended Halls Creek Primary School until he was a teenager; he then went to Tardon in Geraldton. When he was sixteen, he came back home to work on the station as a stockman and was taught by his grandfather and uncle. They passed down all their knowledge, stories and hunting skills to him. Later on in life, he worked in many places all over the top end of Australia in various jobs. He started to learn about machine operations when he got married in 1989. Wayne worked for Rio-Tinto for six and a half years as a trainer and team leader. He had the opportunity to represent indigenous people in Canada as part of Rio-Tinto’s support base for indigenous landholders for mining expeditions in 1997.

Wayne has seven children, one child has started painting, Jeremy Wallaby and his other son Cameron Wallaby starred in a movie called Satellite Boy, which won the Cann Film festival in 2012. Wayne used to work as the C.D.E.P Project Officer in Yiyili Community but moved to Fitzroy Crossing and had been employed by Marra Worra Worra for seven years and he designed the company logo. He used to live in Pullout Springs with partner Sandra Darcy, his kids and grandchildren’s.

Wayne is a talented artist and has been painting in Laarri Gallery for several years. Wayne works with Ochre gathered from local hills here in Gooniyandi country. He paints about dreamtime stories, bush tuckers, bush animals and local knowledge passed down to him from his elders.