Yirawala was a master of creating dazzling patterns of rarrk that embodied the presence of ancestral forces within a painting, as in the animated depiction of Lumahlumah in full ceremonial regalia. Through his authority to introduce innovations in bark painting, such as his variations on rarrk patterns to enhance the brilliance of a painting, Yirawala was a major influence on successive generations of bark painters from western Arnhem Land. The white ground of the bark is also a device Yirawala introduced to further enhance the lustrous quality of the painted surface.

A number of related and similar depictions of Lumahlumah by Yirawala in the collection of the National Gallery are illustrated in Holmes, S. Le Brun...