In Mili and yunga, Kuku Nyungkul artist Sonya Creek paints her mili (stinging tree) and yunga (green ant) totems. Figuratively depicted, the stinging tree is found in abundance along the Bloomfield River in Wujal Wujal and is often home to the yunga. Also known as weaver ants, the yunga weave leaves together to form nests bound with silk produced by their larvae. Using earth pigments, Creek illustrates the presence of the ants in the work through a web of thousands of baral (track marks) leading from nest to nest across the foliage.

A celebration of the artist’s connection to Country, this work honours her totems — and the memories of her grandmothers, who taught her to collect yunga from the mili nests without injury, and how to prepare them for medicinal use.