Born in 1965, Garawan Wanambi is a Marrakulu clansman.
His father, Munuparriwuy Wanambi, was one of the artists who worked on the famous Yirrkala Church Panels. After his father's death in 1973, Garawan was brought up by a Marrangu leader, Yanggariny Wunungmurra, and adopted to the Marrangu clan. Through this connection, Garawan paints Marrangu designs, the counterpart of Marrakulu from the other side of Arnhem Bay.

The Marrangu and Marrakulu are closely related clans who share many of the same sacred laws and mythologies. Both tell of the felling of monumental trees by the honey ancestor, Wuyal; the scouring out of a river course by the fallen log on its way to sea; a deluge of honey; floods and other apocalyptic events.

Garawan paints a site of the mosquito ancestors, a powerful spiritual place in the river mouth near Raymangirr, where freshwater springs bubble up beneath the saltwater. The designs represent the different character of the waters moving from anger and turbulence to the calm of resolution, bathed in the warmth of the sun's rays.

Garawan is married to Manini Gumana and he and his family continue to live and work at Gangan.