In this painting Punata has painted the bush food Yala (Sweet Potato) that is found in the sand dunes near her country Mt Denison. Her father Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri also painted the country around Mt Denison. Women dig for for the sweet potato in the sand dunes and cook it in the coals of the fire. The Yala (Sweet Potato) is white in colour and sweet in taste.
Name: Punata Stockman Nungarrayi
Community: Papunya
Biography:
Born in 1956 at Haast Bluff, Punata Stockman Nungarrayi is the eldest child of Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, one of the founders and one-time Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists. Her mother Yintinaka Nampitjinpa (b. 1940 - d.) was the daughter of Ilyuna Nungarrayi and Yalitijayi, an older brother of the renowned Pintupi artist and fellow Papunya Tula founder Uta Uta Tjangala. Punata's grandparents on her father's side were Amnatyerre, but they were killed in the 1928 Coniston Massacre when her father was just a baby in a coolamon. Punata has two younger brothers who also live in Papunya: Adrian (b. 22/3/1959 Papunya) and Abraham (b. 8/3/1966 Papunya). With her husband Peter Major Tjangala, Punata had three daughters, twins Maggie and Sheila (b. 30/5/1977 Alice Springs Hospital) and Isobel (b. 7/11/1975) and two sons Farren (b. 18/5/1980) and Abrahem (b. 27/4/1983). Punata spent her early childhood in Haasts Bluff and then went to school in Papunya. Her memory of her schooldays is that the teachers were "very strict" and they had to speak English in the classroom. Having trained for six months as a nurse's aid in Darwin after leaving school, Punata was employed as a health worker in Papunya for twenty-one years. She finally left this job to assist with the care of her grandchildren. In 1980, at a time when no women painted in their own right for the Papunya Tula company, Billy Stockman began teaching his daughters to paint. Punata remembers being told to "watch and learn" . Her mother was already helping her father with the background dotting of his paintings and there was discussion among the male painters about letting the women share the resources of the painting company "so they can teach our grandchildren with the paintings". These days Punata looks upon her early efforts as "just practising". It was much later that she began doing "private canvases", which she sold to people working locally in Papunya "to help support all my grandchildren". When Papunya Tjupi Art Centre opened its doors in 2007 Punata began painting regularly and is one of its most consistent and dedicated artists. In 2008 she was elected Chairperson of the organisation. Punata's work has been acquired by the Janet Holmes à Court collection and her reputation is growing both in Australia and overseas.
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