112482109946

Published by CompNet Systems on May 16, 2025

Bush Potato Dreaming – Yarla Jukurrpa

This dreaming tells about bush yams or potatoes. The trees are green all year round. When the flowers are on the tree the women know that the potatoes are ready to dig for. The women look for long, thin cracks along the ground, made from the vines of the potato plant. The women dig where the cracks are. The potatoes are deep in the ground, sometimes more than one meter deep. The women gather them in wooden dishes, called parraja in Warlpiri. Bush potatoes are cooked on the coals, and have a sweet taste.

Categories: Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Ursula Napangardi Marks

Language: Warlpiri

Community: Lajamanu

Biography:

Ursula Marks, skin name Napangardi, is a lead artist of the younger Lajamanu generation, and has already achieved great success in Australia and overseas, particularly with her distinct bold white minimalist art.

Napangardi is a proud Warlpiri woman, who has always lived in Lajamanu, which is the most northern part of the Tanami desert and Warlpiri land. Her art has been greatly influenced by her mentors, including some of Warnayaka's most historically successful artists: Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves, Kitty Napanangka Simon and Rosie Napurrurla Tasman and Molly Napurrurla Tasman.

Her artwork, informed by her cultural history, often features kurruwarri (sacred marks) that is typically painted on a person's body for ceremony. Napangardi is a custodian of her family's Jukurrpa (Dreaming) and remains active in important cultural ceremonies. She is one of many Warnayaka artists that has expressed their freedom and individuality by moving beyond traditional Aboriginal painting techniques to explore more contemporary styles.

Napangardi's art has been exhibited in Darwin, Sydney and Brisbane galleries, as well as internationally in New York, USA and London, England. In 2022, she had a highly successful solo exhibition at Brisbane's Suzanne O'Connell Gallery.

112482109946

Bush Potato Dreaming – Yarla Jukurrpa

Related Posts

Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation

112482198437