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puuni Kapi Tjukurrpa

This painting tells a Kapi Tjukurrpa (water dreaming) story of Wantupunyu. Wantupunyu is Punni’s grandfather’s Country and the site is to the north of Papunya and west of the sacred mountain Karinyarra. Punni leant to paint this story from her Mother’s paintings, Isobel Gorey Nambajimba, who is a prolific painter and a director at Papunya Tjupi.

Water dreaming sites are important for the regeneration of nature. The water makes the country green and brings a lot of ‘bush tucker’ foods for the people and the animals. The heavy rain usually comes in the summer time. When the lightening can be seen at a distance, the elders will start singing to the lightening, encouraging it to bring more rain to replenish the land. In her paintings, Puuni depicts lightening, rainbows, puddles and bush flowers.

In this painting the central shapes are important water or rock hole site. The lines represent the elements of a storm – wind, rain, thunderclouds and lightning. The patterns represent rain and water flowing from the waterholes and flooding the usually dry creek beds.

Name: Puuni Brown Nungarrayi


Community: Papunya


Biography:

Puuni Brown was born at Karrinyarra in 1979. She grew up in Papunya and spent many hours watching her mother Isobel Gorey paint. Puuni continues to reinvent her Mother's Tjukurrpa with a style distinctly her own.

Puuni paints Kapi Tjukurrpa (Water Dreaming) at the site of Wantupunyu, her grandfather and great grandfather's county, an important site for the regeneration of nature. Puuni's intricate and delicate line work create rhythmic and detailed works. Her use of fine, thoughtful brush work paired with a reduced colour palette create mesmerising compositions.

Puuni is an emerging talent at Papunya Tjupi and an artist to watch. Her work has been exhibited at Honey Ant Gallery (2021) in Sydney, at RAFT art space (2021) in Alice Springs, and at McCulloch & McCulloch (2021) in Melbourne. Puuni has a two person show at Outstation gallery in Darwin later this year, as well as work in a number of group exhibitions.


© the artist / art centre